Aftermath
by TitansRule
Summary: As the dust settles at Hogwarts and the Wizarding World is left in limbo, awaiting the reappearance of their hero, the Marauders set about cleaning up the mess left behind. Sequel to Uncovering the Truth, Defying the Enemy, and The Last Stand.
1. The Damage is Done

**AN: This is the sequel to Uncovering the Truth, Defying the Enemy and The Last Stand. Please read these first, because too much happened for me to summarise, and if you come in here looking for canon, then you are going to be VERY confused.**

* * *

**_Previously in the Veritas series:_**

_"HARRY!"_

_Running down the middle of the Great Hall, through the crowd of startled aurors, Hermione threw herself into Harry's arms, sobbing into his robes._

_His arms encircled her automatically, rubbing her back, and she let herself cry, vague threats escaping her, threatening retribution for scaring her so._

_Another hand stroked her hair and a soft female voice asked if she was alright. The voice was familiar and, as Hermione calmed down, she slowly realised that the man holding her was just a little too tall, a little too broad-shouldered to be Harry._

_Pulling back, she looked up into his face to see mischievous brown eyes smiling down at her._

_"Hermione?" James Potter whispered, realisation dawning on his face. "You're all grown up."_

* * *

**April 20th 1998**

"Prongs?" Hermione whispered. "Aunt Lily?"

Lily Potter pulled her out of her husband's arms and embraced her. "Hermione, thank Merlin you're alright! Where's Harry?"

"I don't know," Hermione admitted, clinging to her. "None of us know. How did you know …?"  
"We told them," Daphne answered from behind them.

Hermione had a second moment of confusion, before realising that the woman standing between Daphne and Luna was not Addie. "Leona? I'm Hermione."

"I want to know where my son is," Lily said shakily.

"So would I, Jade, but we're not going to get an answer for that any time soon," Jen said, approaching them. "Surprise!"

"Oh thank Merlin," James muttered, sweeping her into a hug. "How the hell …?"

"I'll explain later," Jen said, hugging Lily as well. "Here and now is not the time and place for that conversation."

"Be grateful," a new voice said. "I found out over the floo."

Lily enveloped Arabella in a hug as well. "You're okay too!"

"Where's Mandy?" Hermione asked. "Is she okay?"

Arabella's smile slipped. "I don't know. Hopefully she got sent to the infirmary."

"Jen," Ginny called. "I don't mean to interrupt the reunion, but …"

Jen turned towards her and sucked in a breath. "Oh, thank Merlin!" She hurried over and took her daughter into her arms. "Hi sweetheart; it's okay, Mama's here now."

"Excuse me!"

The flurry of the reunion quietened, and they all turned to face Fudge, who was slowly turning purple.

"Would someone mind telling me what is going on?!" He demanded, clearly trying to sound impressive, and failing miserably.

The rest of the Great Hall had fallen silent, watching the scene play out.

"Minister Fudge," Hermione said. "Allow me to introduce James and Lily Potter, and Leona McKinnon."

Fudge gaped at them. "But … but … but … you're dead!"

"So was Lady Black, according to the Ministry," Cedric said helpfully. "And so was I for a year - at least my body was found. How _did _an investigation conclude they were dead?"

"No idea," Hermione admitted. "It doesn't look like there was one. Well, for James and Lily, anyway. I don't know about Jen."

"Look, I don't care about that right now," Like said. "Where's my son?!"

Hermione grimaced. "To cut a long story short, Voldemort attacked Hogwarts last night - Oh, shut up!" She glared at the people who had screamed. "Your children fought him; the least you can do is hear the bloody name!" She turned back to Lily. "There was a big fight, obviously, at the end of which Voldemort disapparated with the Death Eaters he had left, and Harry disapparated after him."

"Alone?" Lily whispered. "He went after him alone?"

"Well, there was someone else with him," Hermione said. "But only a few months older."

James took his wife's hand, scanning the Great Hall. "Lils, it'll be okay. There aren't many aurors here so he must have back-up."

"I'm afraid not," Amelia said, glaring at Fudge. "We had a huge decrease of budget after the first war, so these are all the aurors we have - _Minister_ Fudge decided when he got here that Harry didn't need any back-up."

There were probably a dozen things in that sentence that James and Lily didn't understand, but they seemed to have taken Jen's words about the time and place to heart, as Lily's own reaction was to turn on Fudge with a kind of deadly fury in her eyes. "How _dare_ you …"

"Lily," James interrupted, with a strange calm in his voice. "Let me handle this." He turned to address Fudge himself, very deliberately turning his back on Lily at the same time.

For a second, the fury in Lily's eyes grew, before it settled again, and she moved closer to Hermione to take her hand. "Pureblood wives don't often have a say in matters," she murmured to her. "And if Fudge thinks I don't, he's going to think he and James are on the same level."

"Minister Fudge," James began. "You know, I'm sure we've met before. Your name's familiar. Jen, where do I know his name from?"

"Cornelius Fudge," Jen complied, the perfect straight-woman. "Used to be a member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad."

"Of course," James said. "I recognise the bowler hat. Very stylish. But I digress - Minister Fudge, I assume you have a reason for not sending my son any back-up."

"Well, Harry is the Boy-Who-Lived, after all," Fudge said, ignoring the fact that James would have no clue what he was on about. "He's the Chosen One. He's the only one who can kill You-Know-Who."

James raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't know who. I'll assume you mean Voldemort."

Hermione caught Lily's eye and looked away quickly, in case she burst out laughing.

"So why do you think Harry's the Chosen One?" James continued.

His tone was perfectly pleasant - he could have just been discussing the unusually chilly weather they'd been having recently - but there was an underlying note that heart the Great Hall as spellbound as his sons battle had, not even two hours earlier.

"There's a prophecy, Mr Potter," Fudge answered. "It says that Harry will defeat You-Know-Who."

James folded his arms, letting the moniker slide this time. "Really? What does it say?"

"That Harry will defeat You-Know-Who," Fudge repeated.

James gave a tight smile. "No, Minister. I mean the exact words. My wife and I were aware of a prophecy, but we never heard it."

"Well, I haven't heard it per se," Fudge admitted. "But …"

"You haven't heard it," James repeated.

There was danger in his voice now - anyone with intelligence could hear it - and a shiver ran through the Great Hall as everyone seemed to take a collective step backwards.

Even Lily pulled Hermione back a few steps, eyeing her husband warily.

Fudge, however, had never been accused of being an intelligent man, and chose not to quit while he was as ahead as he was ever going to get, continuing to explain how no one had _heard_ the prophecy, but that it was well-assumed what it said.

The aurors were staring at Fudge with a kind of slow-dawning horror, as though none of them had realised that they were relying on an 'untrained' sixteen-year-old because of a rumour of all things.

Seeing their expressions, Amelia cleared her throat quietly, drawing their attention back to her. "Maybe now you'll remember who the Head of DMLE is, Scrimgeour."

The Head Auror hung his head and nodded.

"Take ten of your men and try to track them," Amelia ordered. "The prophecy says that Harry _can_ defeat him, not that he _will_, and it says nothing about Death Eaters."

Eager for redemption, Scrimgeour led ten of his fellows out of the Great Hall, and Amelia went back to watching Fudge slowly dig himself into a gigantic hole.

Just like the previous summer, he was back on his soap-box, resorting to the only politics he really knew - impassioned monologuing - and promising to restrict Muggle-born rights further to prevent another war coming, but this time the newly returned were not in any mood to help him.

Finally, James interrupted him: "Thank you, Cornelius; I think that's quite enough. Amy, lovely to see you again! Did I hear right that you're the Head of Law Enforcement?"

Amelia gave him an affectionate smile that startled a good number of the aurors. "Welcome back, Jamie. Yes, I am."

"Wonderful," James said. "How quickly can you contact Dumbledore - Where is Dumbledore, by the way?"

"North America," Hermione answered. "He's searching for something. Fawkes can take a message for us. Why do you ask?"

"We need to hold an emergency Wizengamot meeting," James answered.

"But there isn't one scheduled!" One of the parents protested.

James rolled his eyes. "That would be why it's called an _emergency_ meeting."

"You can't just call an emergency meeting, Mr Potter," Fudge protested.

"I'm the Head of an Ancient and Noble Family, Fudge," James said coolly. "It was _Lord_ Potter last time I checked. I'm calling a state of no confidence."

"Now see here," Fudge said, swelling with indignation, "I was elected by the public! You can't just get rid of me!"

James narrowed his eyes. "You let my sixteen-year-old son go off to fight Voldemort with no back-up — I think you'll find I can do whatever the fuck I want."

Amelia cleared her throat. "Lord Potter, Minister Fudge does have a point, I'm afraid. You would need a majority vote."

Fudge smirked. "_Thank _you, Amelia."

"Madam Bones," Hermione said. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but … if you have a majority of the Ancient and Noble families voting, that overrules the need for a full majority, right?"

Amelia smiled at her. "That's absolutely correct."

"Ah," Fudge said. "But there are _six_ Ancient and Noble families remaining and only _two_ have known heirs."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Minister," Jen said sweetly, rocking her daughter. "There's Lord Potter and myself, obviously, which is two. Hermione is Lady Ravenclaw, so that's three."

"And we hold the Hufflepuff line," Frank said, stepping out of the crowd with Alice. "We just don't shout about it."

Fudge gaped at him. "How — But — How — But —?"

"Very eloquent, Minister," Jen said dryly. "We sent a message to the Ministry when the attack first started, and only Amelia and a handful of others turned up. You didn't even flinch. That's four out of six. All those in favour of a state of no-confidence."

It certainly wasn't only the four of them who answered, but they were the ones that counted.

As Fudge deflated, Amelia took him firmly by the arm. "Lady Ravenclaw, if you could please send a message to Albus?"

"Right away, Madam Bones," Hermione agreed.

Ginny appeared at her side with a scrap of parchment and a quill. "He didn't come back for an attack; you think he'll come back for this?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm hoping. He thinks he could let last night slide, but he won't want the meeting happening without him." She scribbled a quick note and handed it to Fawkes as he landed on her shoulder. "Sorry to use you as an owl."

Fawkes sang a comforting note and vanished in a flash of flame.

"Lady Ravenclaw!"

Hermione turned to see the goblin army gathered in the Entrance Hall, many students crowded on the stairs watching nervously.

It was Ragnok who had hailed her and she curtsied towards him as he approached her.

"What did we say about titles, Ragnok?"

"Not to use them," Ragnok answered with a goblin smile.

"How are your injured?' Hermione asked quietly.

"We lost twelve to the Death Eaters," Ragnok said with a scowl. "But the others suffered only minor injuries. Do not worry yourself," he added, at her grieved expression. "To die in battle is the greatest honour of any goblin. We have come to offer our services."

"Services?" Hermione repeated.

"Your prison has been abandoned by the Dementors," Ragnok reminded her. "I am suggesting we offer a goblin guard, in exchange for a more open relationship with the Ministry."

There was a sharp intake of breath behind them.

Fudge immediately opened his mouth to protest, but no sound escaped.

Amelia tucked her wand away again. "On behalf of the Ministry of Magic, I'd be delighted to accept your offer, Director Ragnok. Lady Black, I believe, has them held somewhere at the moment?"

"I do," Jen confirmed. "And I'd rather they stay there until we can put them through a trial and back in again." She frowned. "Actually, speaking of getting back, how did you two get back?"

"That would be us," Daphne answered. "Luna here had the idea to apparate to _them. _We took care of the few Death Eaters that were there, and now here we are."

"What about our children?!" A woman shouted from the crowd, her voice bordering on hysterical.

Jen winced. "Right - sorry, madam. Winky! Can you fetch me a list of all the students in the infirmary please?" She asked, when the little elf appeared.

Once she had the list in her hand, Jen duplicated it and handed a copy to Alice, before kissing her daughter's head. "Lily, do you mind …?"

"Not at all," Lily said immediately, holding out her arms for the baby. "Come here, sweetheart."

"Ready?" Jen asked Alice, who nodded grimly.

The two woman approached the terrified parents, who were huddled together. "Okay," Jen said. "We will come to you one at a time. You will tell us the name, year and house of your child, and we will tell you if they are in the infirmary or not. The infirmary is in a _safe _location, not here, and was manned by trained students, a Healer, and Lady Longbottom here. However, I should warn you that eleven people were killed last night, and I regret to say that I do not know who they are just yet."

While Jen and Alice began their task, Hermione slipped away to the antechamber she had been avoiding, where eleven bodies still lay, covered with sheets.

"Get a grip," she muttered to herself. "Eleven is a bloody miracle and you know it."

Raising her wand in a shaky hand, Hermione flicked the sheets back away from their faces.

Ten were students, two Gryffindors, four Ravenclaws, three Hufflepuffs and a Slytherin.

The Slytherin was a shock - it was Pansy Parkinson who stared unseeingly up at her. Finding her left arm under the sheet, Hermione pushed up her sleeve to find the Dark Mark imprinted on her pale skin, although she was still dressed in her school robes, with no Mask in sight.

A quick scan with her wand found now injuries, and she forced to conclude the Killing Curse - apparently, she had fallen victim to 'friendly' fire.

At least, Hermione was fairly certain that no one on their side had been using the Killing Curse.

Still, it was strange, looking down at the dead body of someone she knew, even if it was someone she had never liked.

Quite unsure how to feel, Hermione moved on to the next body.

Ironically, Pansy was lying side by side with a Gryffindor - a seventh year named Cormac McLaggen, who Hermione recognised from the Quidditch try-outs. He was their reserve Keeper - an irritatingly arrogant young man who annoyed Harry and Ron to no-end.

Unlike Pansy, it was clear what had killed Cormac immediately. A great gash on his neck had left the sheets stained with blood.

_Cutting Curse._

Hermione turned away quickly, her eyes landing on the seventh year Ravenclaw beside him. She didn't recognise his face and turned away hastily, emptying her stomach on the stone floor behind her, her stomach unsettled by both the horror of his injuries and the shock of relief that it was no one she knew.

Clearing the floor with a wave of her wand, she turned back to the seventh year, trying to place his face. She was certain she recognised him from somewhere, but it was difficult to focus on that. This student had also been attacked by Greyback, but he hadn't been as lucky as Lavender (she hoped).

His throat had been ripped out.

"Hermione," Katie called softly from the doorway. "Do you need someone with you?"

Hermione swallowed hard. "I want to say no. But I do. You don't have to …"

"I'm the Head Girl," Katie said, coming over to take her hand. "And you have already done more than enough. I need to do this."

"Alright," Hermione conceded. "Do you know who that is?"

Katie paled at the sight of the Ravenclaw. "Yeah, that's …" she cleared her throat. "That's Matthew Rivers. And that," she added, pointing to his house-mate beside him, her eyes still wide open with the same unseeing fear as Pansy's, "is his girlfriend, Marnie Carter. He was a prefect."

"Merlin, of course he was," Hermione whispered.

Katie sniffled. "He was going to propose to her at graduation."

Hermione took a shaky breath. "At least they're together." She pointed her wand at the wound in his throat, murmured a few words, and the skin knotted together.

"I didn't know you could do that with werewolf bites," Katie said shakily.

"You can heal the wounds," Hermione said. "But if they're still alive, it will still leave a nasty scar. And you can't take away the infection." She covered up the four she had identified, and moved on to the next, another Ravenclaw.

"That's …" Katie hesitated. "I don't know her name."

"I do," Hermione said thickly. "That's Laura Ashford. Her father's on the Wizengamot. And she's one of the girls that gave Luna such a hard time."

"What killed her?" Katie asked. "Killing Curse?"

"Maybe," Hermione answered. "Given the angle of her head, I'd say her neck's broken as well. I don't think we'll ever know which came first."

The second Gryffindor was lying between Laura and the last Ravenclaw and Hermione recognised her as well.

"Amelia Kent," she sighed. "She's one of Ginny's dorm-mates."

"Were they close?" Katie asked.

"Not really, I don't think," Hermione said. "In these cases, I don't think that's the point."

With no other injuries, they had to conclude yet another Killing Curse.

"That's four out of six so far," Katie said. "Were the Death Eaters using other spells?"

"Well, unless they were killed instantly, they were sent straight to the infirmary," Hermione pointed out, "and hopefully stabilised."

Katie nodded, moving to the next body, waving a wand over them. "Oh, why did I say anything?"

"Not the Killing Curse?" Hermione asked, glancing at his face. This one she didn't recognise, and she felt another horrible jolt of relief.

"I don't know what it is," Katie said, frowning. "It's just … It's Dark Magic, whatever it is."

"Best leave it to the professionals then," Hermione muttered. "Do you know who he is?

"Adam Milton," Katie whispered. "We dated, when I was in fifth year. Only for a few months and it wasn't … I mean, I didn't …"

Hermione wrapped an arm around her and guided her away to the last three student bodies, all Hufflepuffs

Two of them were identified as seventh year Robert Davey (whose older brother, Roger, had managed to make such a spectacle of himself at the Yule Ball) and fifth-year Isla Kensington.

Proving that Katie had, indeed, spoken too soon, neither of them had been killed with a Killing Curse.

Robert had an open wound on his chest which Hermione had put down to an unfortunately placed Cutting Curse, until they realised that there was something rather important missing.

"How are we supposed to find a human heart?" Katie asked.

"Look," Hermione answered. "We can't exactly summon it; think of the panic. I'll speak to Hogwarts; see if she can guide me to it."

Katie frowned down at Isla. "And what about her?"

Isla had a nasty burn mark across her chest and Hermione unconsciously traced the path of her own scar. "Flame-Whip Curse I think. Jen will know for sure."

The last student was the hardest for Hermione to deal with.

Justin Finch-Fletchley's body was not mangled or damaged in any way, signalling a quick, painless death by Killing Curse, but that didn't ease Hermione's grief. She and Justin had shared a certain camaraderie over both getting Petrified in their second year, and he had often worked with her in Herbology.

"Better go and tell Susan," she told Katie, wiping her eyes. "And Ginny about Amelia. They won't want to hear it second-hand."

"What about Professor Burbage?" Katie asked, her eyes sliding to the body of their teacher.

"Jen will know what to do," Hermione answered with certainty. She re-covered the remaining bodies with the sheets and accompanied Katie out of the antechamber, closing the door gently behind them.

_How do I handle this? Every second these parents wait is another second of their hope building._

Stepping onto the dais at the front of the Great Hall, Hermione managed a weak, shaky smile as every eye turned to her. "Would you like me to give you the names of the students killed now or wait for them to get to you?"

"Now," One of the mothers answered. "I can't wait any longer."

There was a flurry of agreement and Hermione nodded. "Alright. But remember, just because your child is not on this list … Lady Black had given us all Portkeys, so these are only the people who were killed instantly, before the Portkey could activate. I cannot guarantee your child's safety." She took a deep breath. "Pansy Parkinson. Cormac McLaggen. Matthew Rivers. Marnie Carter. Laura Ashford. Amelia Kent. Adam Milton. Robert Davey. Isla Kensingon. Justin Finch-Fletchley."

Sobbing tore through the Great Hall, as several families collapsed; at least two of the students were Muggle-born, and Pansy's parents were both Death Eaters, so they were either with Voldemort or locked up in the grounds of Ravenscroft Manor.

"I am truly sorry for your losses," Hermione continued. "I know that's of little comfort, but one of those students was a friend of mine."

"Wait," one of the fathers said shakily. "You said there were eleven bodies."

Hermione heaved a sigh and looked over at Jen. "We lost Professor Burbage."

Professor Sinistra let out a cry. "I told them! I told them they shouldn't leave!"

Alice hurried to her side and wrapped an arm around her, guiding her to a chair.

Jen closed her eyes, turning away from the parents for a second. She had only met Charity a few times, but that was enough for her heart to hurt.

And those kids …

As awful as it sounded, Jen had been hoping that more of the bodies had been adults, even if that would mean more of a personal blow, because they were _supposed_ to be the protectors.

She had done all she could to protect the children of Hogwarts - and it still hadn't been enough.

Lily crossed the floor to where she was standing, handing the baby over. "I always needed Harry at times like this. I don't remember Professor Burbage."

"That's because she only joined the staff a few years ago," Jen said, hugging her daughter close. "She started Hogwarts the year after we graduated, Gryffindor. She taught Muggle Studies, even though she didn't know the first thing about Muggles, bless her heart."

"I'm sorry," Lily murmured, still holding the baby's tiny hand. "How old is she?"

"Less than twenty-four hours," Jen said with a weak laugh. "I had to leave her in the rubble with a boatload of protective charms. We'd managed to completely forget about the full moon - my Patronus wouldn't come, he didn't have a mirror; I had no other way of warning him. And even if I did, he would never have got home in time …"

"It's okay," Lily said, giving her a one-armed hug. "You both got out of it alive, that's the main thing. What's her name?"

"Do you know, we hadn't even thought of that," Jen admitted. "I was a month early." She gazed down at her daughter, who had drifted off to sleep. "I'm surprised she's not screaming."

"I asked one of the house-elves to bring me a bottle," Lily said. "Figured I may as well make myself useful."

Jen breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Jade; you're an angel." Her daughter shifted in her arms and she smiled, looking back down at her.

When Lily have given birth to Harry, Jen had walked into the hospital room expecting to meet Daniel James Potter, only to find out that Lily had taken one look at his face and declared that his name was Harry, not Daniel (even though it wasn't a name she and James had ever discussed.

Lily said later that she had just known, upon looking at her child's face, what her name was supposed to be.

Now, as Jen gazed upon her sleeping baby, she knew exactly what Lily had meant. "Serenity," she murmured. "Serenity Hope Lupin."


	2. No Confidence

**April 20th 1998**

"Potter Manor?" James asked as the Portkey took them home. Alice had offered to stay to co-ordinate the clean-up so Jen had created one of her Portkeys to take the rest of them home. "But it isn't safe …"

"Dumbledore lied to you," Jen said, comforting Serenity, who had been startle by the trip. "The wards around here are as strong as they ever were."

"Jen?" A female voice called.

"It's us, Meredith!" Jen called back. "The battle's over."

Meredith and Nathan appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, thank goodness," Meredith breathed. "We've been worried sick; is there anything we can do?"

"Andie could probably use a hand in the infirmary," Jen answered, handing Serenity to Lily. "Hang on." She checked her pockets, before grabbing an old ornament from a nearby table, tapping it with her wand. "_Portus_. Don't let that break."

"We won't," Meredith said, making sure her husband was holding on as well. "Is there a code?"

"No, it's time-related," Jen told her. "It'll take you to the transportation stone; you know how to use it." She had been very happy to learn that she could allow Muggles to use the transportation stone if she wanted to. "Three … two … one …"

The Barters disappeared and Jen turned to Lily and James. "Sorry, I should have introduced you. Meredith and Nathan are parents of one of the Gryffindor Muggle-born first years. They escaped a Death Eater attack and we had to adopt them."

"Perfectly reasonable," Lily said, looking a little overwhelmed. "Where did Frank go?"

"Reception room for the Floo," Jen answered. "There's only one fireplace connected, and it's ours. And you can trust my security."

"Of course," James agreed immediately. "That's okay with me. Our wands …"

Jen nodded. "Dobby, can you fetch the wands from the Heirs Suite please?"

Dobby appeared with a pop and a bow, and handed her the wands before disappearing again.

"Jen," James said, taking his wand from her. "What happened to the Potter elves?"

Jen winced. "I'm sorry, James. When we got back here, I asked Dobby to look for them. They're all gone. I'm sorry."

James's expression didn't change, but Jen and Lily both saw the grief enter his eyes. "Oh. Well, I'd better find my robes."

"No one's touched the Master Suite," Jen told him quietly, as he disappeared in the direction of the staircase. She caught Lily's arm as she made to follow. "Don't. He needs a moment."

Lily nodded, looking upset. "Stelphie was so lovely. She was such a help when I had Harry."

"I know," Jen said gently. "Can you watch Serenity? I need to grab a shower and change before we head to the Ministry."

"Of course," Lily said, settling into one of the armchairs with Serenity dozing off in her arms. "You just focus on cleaning this mess up."

* * *

Not even an hour later, Jen settled into her seat in the Wizengamot chamber, just in time for Dumbledore to appear with Fawkes, along with everyone who had accompanied him.

"Was this really necessary, Cornelius?" Dumbledore asked.

"I did not make this decision, Albus," Fudge said huffily. "I am being replaced!"

"Isn't that a little hasty, Amelia?" Dumbledore asked, turning disappointed eyes on the head of the DMLE.

"Given the circumstances, no, I don't believe it is," Amelia answered coolly. "There has been a vote of no confidence. Therefore we have to see it through. I strongly suggest your entourage move to the observation gallery. I have a feeling they'll want to see this."

Snape looked straight up at Jen, who tipped him a wink. He smirked, murmuring something to Minerva that apparently cut off any protest.

Dumbledore climbed the steps and settled into his seat, still looking quite put out. "Very well. I call this emergency meeting of the Wizemgamot to order. First order of business …"

The doors swung open and James strode in, his red Wizengamot robes swirling impressively, the Potter crest standing out proudly on his right chest.

"Harry, my boy!" Dumbledore greeted - it would have been cheerful, but Jen could hear the note of confusion beneath it. "What on earth …?

James cut him off with a laugh. "Wrong Potter, Albus. Sorry I'm late; I got held up."

Most of the Wizengamot had not been at Hogwarts, so there was an immediate uproar of confusion.

Beneath it all, Dumbledore's face drained of colour, before he recovered himself. "You're dead."

"Really? James asked in mock-surprise. "You'd have thought I'd have stopped walking around. I'm sure that Amelia's going to have some investigation into what happened, but for the time being, I'm sure this will suffice." He drew his wand, his magic settling around them in an oath. "I hereby swear on my magic and on my life that I am indeed Lord James David Potter, Earl of Richmond, son of the late Lord David Charlus Potter and Lady Aemilia Dorea Black-Potter, husband of Lady Lillian Caroline Evans-Potter, Countess of Richmond, and father of Harry James Sirius Potter. So I intend, so mote be it."

The oath took hold with a flash of light and, since James was still standing very much alive before them, no one could doubt its validity.

A smattering of applause echoed through the chamber, some enthusiastic, some looking as thought they'd been forced to swallow a rather unpleasant poison (and not just Snape).

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Welcome back, Lord Potter. I assume you're here to take the Potter seat."

"Obviously," James said, with a dryness that would have made his former Head of House proud. He bowed and made his way up the steps, taking the seat opposite Jen. "Before we begin, Professor Dumbledore, there are a few other seats that are currently empty."

Dumbledore gave a small sigh. "Very well. Next?"

This time, it was Hermione who walked through the door, her head held high. She was still wearing her school robes, although the Hogwarts crest had vanished to be replaced by the Ravenclaw crest.

Not many people noticed the Black family crest on her right arm, denoting her as the current Heir Apparent, but that was probably just as well for the moment.

"Great," someone muttered audibly. "Now we're letting mudbloods in?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Was I the only one who heard that?"

"I heard it," James said, jotting something down on a scrap of parchment. "And I heard who said it. And they'll pay for it."

"Lord Potter, we do not approve of violence in the Wizemgamot," Dumbledore said.

"I'm not threatening violence, Albus," James said with a cold smile. "I'm a Marauder. He'll wish I was."

Dumbledore turned back to Hermione. "Miss Granger, you should be at school."

Hermione drew her wand. "I swear on my magic and on my life that I am the blood heir of Lady Rowena Ravenclaw."

A man stood up on her left.

"The Wizengamot recognises Lord Adrian Greengrass."

"Miss Granger," the sneer on her last name did not go unnoticed, "do you have proof of this claim?"

"I would say the fact that she just took an oath on her life and she's still standing is a pretty good indication," James said.

Dumbledore sighed. "Lord Potter, please. I must admit, Miss Granger, that I am surprised myself. I was under the impression that your parents were both Muggles."

_Liar_. Hermione gave him a sweet smile. "Well, although it would be perfectly plausible for one of Lady Rowena's children to have produced a Squib, which could have led to my father, my inheritance is through my mother, Jane Granger, previously Jane Thompson, later Jane Princeton. I'm surprised you didn't know that, Headmaster."

"Hogwarts holds a great many secrets, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said.

"Oh, I know," Hermione said cheerfully. "Ravenclaw Castle is part of my birthright, you know. She's been bugging me to claim the family line for ages." She turned to Lord Greengrass. "Does that satisfy you, my Lord?"

He didn't look very satisfied at all, but he clearly had no further grounds to argue. "My apologies, Lady Ravenclaw."

"Quite alright, Lord Greengrass," Hermione said. "I understand my announcement would come as quite a shock." She turned back to Dumbledore expectantly.

Dumbledore stifled a sigh and nodded. "Very well, Lady Ravenclaw. Take your oath before this body and take your seat."

Hermione recited the oath of the Wizengamot (not that it clearly did any good, since some of its members were active Death Eaters) and curtsied to the podium, before making her way up the stairs and taking the seat next to Jen.

As she sat, there was a soft shimmer of light, reinforcing once again the words of her oath.

The next entry nearly caused an uproar, were it not for Arthur's quick actions in Silencing his wife.

Dumbledore, however, did rise from his seat. "Miss Weasley, you hold no bearing in this chamber."

"Actually, Chief Wizard, I do," Ginny said, the Hogwarts crest on her robes replaced by the Malfoy crest. "For those of you who are unaware, which is probably most of you, the Slytherin family magic has disowned his heir, Tom Marvolo Riddle, for his crimes against wizard-kind and the rest of humanity. The chosen heir of Salazar Slytherin is Draco Malfoy."

Muttering filled the chamber and Ginny waited patiently until it had died down a little. "The family magic allowed Draco to take control of the Malfoy family last summer, as well as disown his father, Lucius, for attempted line-theft. Apparently trying to murder your child is a bad move."

Jen choked back a laugh.

"But Lord Malfoy isn't here!" Someone shouted.

Dumbledore banged his gavel on his desk. "Order please. Miss Weasley?"

Ginny dipped a curtsey in the direction of the shout. "Lord Malfoy is unavoidably detained, sir, but he has given me permission to hold the Slytherin seat by proxy."

This time, the protests were louder, and when it didn't look like Dumbledore would act, Amelia banged her own gavel. "Quiet! The only person who can make that decision is Lord Malfoy. Miss Weasley, kindly take the proxy-holders' oath and take your seat."

Ginny recited the oath, curtseyed to the podium and ascended the stairs to take the seat on Hermione's other side. The seat did not glow this time, but it also did not throw her off, accepting the proxy request.

The final entries caused complete chaos - Frank and Neville Longbottom strode in shoulder to shoulder, Frank wearing the Longbottom crest, Neville wearing the Hufflepuff crest.

Since Dumbledore was once again just as shocked as everyone else, Amelia banged her gavel once more. "Order please! Lord Longbottom, would you care to explain as to your miraculous recovery?"

"Certainly, Madam Bones." Frank gave her a little bow. "As most of you are probably aware, my wife, Alice, and I were tortured into insanity by certain Death Eaters, in the November of 1982. Thankfully, Lady McKinnon and Lady Ravenclaw are both natural Legilimens, and were able to achieve what the mind-healers could not. My wife and I have both been given a clean bill of health."

Under the round of applause, Dumbledore nodded, smiling at him. "Very well, Lord Longbottom; welcome back." His gaze moved to Neville, who took a deep breath.

"With my father's permission and blessing, sir, I am here to claim the Hufflepuff seat as the heir of Lady Helga Hufflepuff."

Despite the murmur that travelled around the room, there were no arguments, and both men bowed to the podium and went their separate ways, Frank to the Longbottom seat, Neville to the seat beside James.

"I think that's everyone," James said cheerfully. "When you're ready, Chief Wizard."

"Thank you Lord Potter." The sarcasm in Dumbledore's voice was almost inaudible. "Our first order of business is to re-take the vote of no confidence in Cornelius Fudge. All in favour."

Jen rolled her eyes as she raised her hand. Amelia had witnessed the earlier vote, so Dumbledore did not need to call another one.

Still, if he was hoping that time to think would change people's minds, he was sorely mistaken.

Everyone on the top podium, everyone on the right side of the room and even a few on the left made it a majority vote with no room for error.

Dumbledore peered at Fudge over his half-moon glasses. "I am sorry, Cornelius, but the people have spoken." He banged his gavel again. "We will hold the voting in two weeks time to allow for an election campaign. Those who wish to nominate themselves or others should present themselves to the Ministerial office. If you are nominated by someone else, you will have twenty-four hours to withdraw your nomination. In the meantime, we would normally ask the Senior Undersecretary to stand as the interim minister; however given that she is currently on the run, Madam Bones will be taking the role. Now, if that's all …"

"I'm afraid not, Chief Wizard," Jen said coldly. "I hereby ask the Wizengamot to agree to an investigation into the actions of our Chief Wizard, Albus Dumbledore."

"Motion seconded," Hermione said, before anyone else could argue.

"Jennifer …" Dumbledore began.

"Albus," Amelia said sharply. "You cannot refuse if you are the subject of the investigation. Lady Black, your reasoning?"

"Well, for starters, Lord and Lady Potter are not dead," Jen said. "And yet their Will was read in this very chamber, I am informed. The Ancient and Noble charms at Gringotts would prevent the Will from being released in that case, so the question is whether Professor Dumbledore just faked the Will because he knew what it said, or if he left them to rot as well."

"Additionally," Hermione said, "we sent a letter last night via Fawkes requesting help and he did not return."

"Miss Granger …"

"Lady Ravenclaw," Hermione corrected.

Dumbledore sighed. "Lady Ravenclaw, I appreciate that there was a skirmish at Hogwarts last night. However, I was searching for something important. Something which is pinnacle to Voldemort's downfall."

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "A piece of Dark magic hidden in Helga Hufflepuff's cup. The same cup that Lady Black and I told you we had cleansed of Dark magic last summer before you Obliviated us." She smiled at him. "Memory Charms don't work on natural Legilimens, Professor. They just bounce off. Oh, and that little skirmish? Miss Weasley, what exactly did you write in that letter?"

"That Voldemort was attacking Hogwarts," Ginny answered.

Hermione looked back at Dumbledore. "You didn't think that warranted a trip back?"

"As I have said many times," Dumbledore said tiredly, "my sources have informed me that Voldemort wants to beat Harry as an adult. He will not launch another attack until Harry is 17."

"I see," Hermione said. "Well, that's fair enough, I suppose. Although your sources have also told us that they don't believe that in the slightest."

"On an unrelated note," Jen said, to the chamber at large, "I'm afraid it falls to me to inform you that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was subject to a large-scale attack last night, led by Lord Voldemort. I regret to inform you that ten students and one teacher lost their lives in the attack."

"And I would like to take this opportunity," Hermione said, "to thank Lady Black for completely ignoring our Headmaster's reassurances and setting up an evacuation plan, because otherwise the body count would be a lot higher."

Jen smiled sadly. "I'd rather the body count have not applied to the students at all. There are a great number of other issues, but here and now is not the time to be going into them."

"I agree," Amelia said. "We are not prepared for a trial; it's very early in the morning; and several of our members have children injured. Even more of them are not present because they are marked Death Eaters and were arrested last night, so they need a trial first. All in favour of a full investigation?"

There was a larger show of hands this time - everyone on the darker side of the room looked positively gleeful - although there were still a few on the light side who seemed furious at the very idea.

"Motion carried," Amelia announced, banging her gavel. "Aurors?"

Two of her aurors rose from seats in the gallery and hurried to the podium, disarming Dumbledore before he could argue.

The Headmaster gave the room a very disappointed look. "I would hope that everyone in here is aware that everything I have done is for the greater good. Fawkes!"

The phoenix appeared in a flash of flame, circling the room, before swooping to land on Hermione's shoulder.

"He's bound to Hogwarts, Professor, not to you," Hermione said, "and he doesn't like what you've been doing either."

"Take him down to the holding cells," Amelia instructed her aurors. "Make sure it's one with a power suppressor. Then stand guard outside and let no one in or out without my direct authorisation."

With a quick Silencing Charm, the aurors led Albus Dumbledore out of the room - with any luck, it would just look like two aurors accompanying the Headmaster to the DMLE.

"In that case," Amelia said, "we need to appoint a new Chief Wizard or Witch to preside over the trials in the meantime."

Instinctively, the chamber turned to the six seats either side of the podium, since they had the right to the first nomination.

The five glanced at each other, then James, a glint of mischief entering his eyes, raised a hand. "I nominate Lady Black."


	3. The Leader of the Light

**April 20th 1998**

For a second, Jen thought she'd misheard him. Then Hermione, beside her, raised a hand. "Seconded."

Several people started clapping, a signal that was swiftly taken up by most of the room.

Jen closed her eyes. "Can I just remind the chamber," she said loudly, "that I am only holding this seat by proxy?"

"To be fair, Lady Black, there is nothing written anywhere that says that the Chief Witch or Wizard has to hold a seat," James pointed out.

Jen sighed. "Madam Bones, would you excuse us for one moment?"

"Certainly, Lady Black," Amelia said, barely concealing a smirk. "Take your time."

Jen waved her hand, setting up a privacy charm around the Ancient and Noble seats. "What are you doing?!"

"What?" James asked innocently. "Look, Selena, I've got no idea what the hell's going on, but I know something needs to be done. Did you hear what Zabini said when Hermione walked in? They're supposed to be neutral, for Merlin's sake! No wonder Voldemort got so bloody bad."

"James is right," Hermione agreed. "You predicted this yourself, remember? In your dreams. To go against the lord of light. And Grandmother's - the true leader of the light is hidden. Dumbledore claimed to be the leader of the light, and he was Chief Wizard. You need to do this, Jen. Please?"

Jen sighed and waved her hand again, cancelling the charms. "Very well. I accept the nomination."

"Thank you, Lady Black," Amelia said, turning back to the chamber. "Are there any other nominations?"

No answer.

"Are there any other nominations?" Amelia asked again.

Once more, no one moved.

"Any other nominations?"

Nothing.

Amelia banged her gavel. "Lady Black, please take your seat."

With another sigh, Jen rose from her seat and moved to the centre podium. "Thank you, my Lords and Ladies. I will endeavour to do my best. Now it's early and a lot has happened; Madam Bones needs a little time to prepare for the trials. We will send out the notices when they are prepared; however, I am going to suggest that the full court assembles for the trials."

There was a murmur of agreement, before Jen banged her gavel and dismissed the court.

"I will get you back for this, Prongs," she muttered, rising from her chair.

"I look forward to it, Selena," James said cheerfully.

"Lady Black!"

Jen closed her eyes. "Oh no."

Lord Ashford came to a stop at the bottom of the podium as they descended. "Lord Potter, welcome back."

"Thank you," James said, but the man's attention was not truly on him.

Nor did Jen's expect it to be - he had not been at Hogwarts.

"Lady Black, my daughter - Laura - is she alright?" He asked urgently.

Jen took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "Brian, I think you'd better sit down."

Brian Ashford's face went deathly pale and he staggered into the nearest chair. "Is she …?"

"I am so sorry," Jen said heavily.

Hermione stepped away from them, focussing instead on the Order of the Phoenix who had left the gallery and were hurrying towards them.

"Well, better late than never, I suppose," she said, folding her arms.

"Be fair, Hermione," Ginny said. "There are a lot of ways to interpret the words 'Voldemort's attacking the school, send help'."

"Miss Granger …" Professor McGonagall began.

"Right now, Professor, I am _not_ your student," Hermione snapped. "I am Lady Ravenclaw, the owner of Ravenclaw Castle, also known as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I demand to know what you were thinking when you abandoned your students because you had more blind faith Albus bloody Dumbledore than you did in an obvious plea for help - did the fact that Fawkes brought it mean anything?!"

"Lady Ravenclaw," Professor Sprout said in a low voice. "You are absolutely right. Severus warned us that he didn't believe it and we still didn't listen. Who did we lose?"

While Hermione went through the list once again, their faces by now etched into her mind, Ginny was pulled away into her parents' arms.

For once, she did not fight her mother's almost oppressive embrace, sinking into the nostalgic comfort of her mother's arms.

Finally, Arthur managed to rescue her, holding her at arms' length to look her over, his eyes immediately going to the cut on her forehead. "Are you alright, Princess?"

"I'm fine," Ginny said immediately. "Well, okay, I'm not fine. I'm physically alright."

Arthur touched the injury on her head gently. "Are you sure?"

"A corridor exploded," Ginny said shortly. "Draco shielded us both; that's the worst of it."

"Your brothers?" Molly asked breathlessly. "Are they alright?"

"George lost an ear," Ginny answered, "but he's okay. Fred's … Fred's still unconscious."

Molly let out a loud sob. "Oh Merlin …"

"He was in the corridor when it caved in as well," Ginny said. "I still don't know what happened - he'd given his portkey to a student that didn't have one and … I thought he was dead …"

"They're at Ravenscroft," Jen said approaching them. "Come on."

"Jen, I want to know what's going on," James said.

"I know, James, and we will tell you," Jen said gently. "Go back to Potter Manor - I'm not telling you on my own. Let me round up the others and Harry's friends, get Molly and Arthur to see their children, and I'll meet you there, alright? Come on, Molly."

With Molly almost hysterical with worry, Jen took her arm and steered her out of the Wizengamot chamber and up to the apparition point, where she apparated her to the transport stone.

Arthur arrived a split-second later and Jen ushered them on to the flat rock. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The forest swam around them and resettled into the Entrance Hall.

"Up the stairs," she told them, heading towards the ballroom.

The students were waiting quietly when she walked in, seemingly desperate for news.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting," she said with a smile. "The wards around Hogwarts have been recharged and it's safe for you to return. You might get drafted into clean-up, just to warn you."

"Um, Lady Black," one of the younger boys said tentatively. "Some of the others tried to attack us when we got here, but they all disappeared."

"That would be the house-elves," Jen said with a sigh. "I was hoping that they wouldn't be stupid enough to try it. They'll be in a prison for the time being, until the teachers can assess things. If they're over 17, I will make sure they're charged as adults, I assure you. Was anyone hurt?"

There was a general negative response and she nodded. "Good. Take the floo back to the Hog's Head, room 8, and tell the portrait it's safe to return. She'll let you through."

Leaving them to organise their return, Jen hurried up the stairs to the infirmary, sending a Patronus to Cedric to let him know they were returning.

When she stepped through the door, she almost immediately ran into Andromeda, who had apparently been about to come and find her.

"Jen, for Merlin's sake - are you trying to give me a heart attack? Where's the baby?"

"Andie, I'm fine!" Jen protested, trying to stop her cousin from dragging her to a bed. "I'm fine, really. The baby's with Lily - she did train as a healer. Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone should be eventually," Andie said, ceasing her efforts to give Jen a check-up, but not looking happy about it. "There are a few I'm not totally happy with; we're going to move them to St Mungo's." She sighed. "Honestly, Jen, your portkeys saved a lot of lives. Without immediate medical attention, we'd be looking at a lot more deaths."

Jen nodded, her eyes travelling across the nearest beds. Her eyes fell on a young woman nearby. "I know her. I saw Hermione blast Greyback away from her - was she in time?"  
Andie sighed. "Well, she certainly saved her life, yes. But she has been infected. She hasn't woken yet."

Jen closed her eyes. "Dammit."

"She'll be alright," Andie said. "She wont be alone."

"What about Remus?" Jen asked. "And Sirius and Addie and Mandy?"

"Right, from the top," Andie said. "Remus was unconscious when he got here and Luna moved him straight to your room when he arrived."

"Wise move," Jen murmured. So far, Remus had never lost control after contact with her, but then he'd never been in a Death Eater fight either.

Andie nodded in agreement. "He transformed back about an hour ago and he's sleeping. He's just suffering from the regular post-transformation exhaustion. Sirius got hit with a particularly nasty blood-poisoning curse - thankfully, Alice recognised it and got him the potion relatively quickly, so we're just waiting for him to wake up. Addie's still unconscious as well; it's not a nice curse, and I know the counter-curse, but for some reason it's just not working, so I'm monitoring her as well. They're in their own room as well."

Jen nodded. "And Mandy?"

"Sleeping off a concussion," Andie answered, nodding to one of the other beds. "And recovering from a broken arm, but that's healed up."

Jen glanced over to where Molly and Arthur were on the other side of the room, beside the bed she assumed held Fred, hugging George and Ron.

Angelina and Alicia were sitting on the other side of the bed, the latter comforting Fred's weeping girlfriend.

"He's stable," Andie said quietly. "I think Percy is helping coordinate the clean-up, Charlie's helping with the animals that were injured when they came through the Forest, and Bill is coordinating with the goblins. I should think they'll be here soon though."

Jen nodded. "I need to …" she jerked her head towards the door.

Andie smiled at her. "Of course you do. Stand down, Jen. You're not an auror anymore; you're not on duty. Go and find your husband."

Jen turned on her heel and hurried out of the infirmary and up to the next floor. She had just reached her bedroom door when she felt the presence in the back of her mind wake up.

**_Oh, thank Merlin!_**

She found him sitting up in bed, looking panicked.

"Jen, the students …"

"… are all fine," Jen finished, shutting the door behind her and rushing into his arms. "I was so worried, Remus; I thought …"

**_Ssh, it's alright._** Remus held her tightly, stroking her hair as her words dissolved into sobs, overwhelmed by the events of the last twenty-four hours. **_What happened? Where … Where's the baby?!_**

**_She's okay - she's at Potter Manor. _**For a second, Jen hesitated, then she opened her mind, allowing him to witness her memories, the moment of sheer panic when she realised the phase of the moon, the determination to reach him before that happened, the rush of love when she laid eyes on their daughter for the first time.

"Her name's Serenity," she finished quietly. "Serenity Hope."

Remus was silent for a few seconds. "Did anyone get bitten?"

"Not by you, no," Jen answered. "But Greyback did bite two students. One died, the other's in the infirmary - Lavender Brown?"

Remus nodded. "Hermione's dorm-mate. I taught her. Greyback?"

Jen smiled. "Dead. Ginny hit him with a Reductor Curse."

Remus laughed. "Brilliant! What about Harry? Hermione?"

"Hermione's shaken," Jen answered. "Obviously. Harry and Draco disapparated after Voldemort and no one knows where they are."

Remus closed his eyes. "What about Sirius and Addie?"

"They're in their own room," Jen answered. "Andie says that they're still out."

There was a soft tap on the door before it opened to reveal Andromeda herself. "Are my ears burning?"

"Hi Andie," Remus said. "Thanks for looking after me."

"My pleasure," Andie said, waving her wand over him. "You're all clear if you want to get up."

"I do," Remus said. "I need to see our daughter."

"So do I," Jen agreed. "But we need to see Sirius and Addie first."

By the time the three of them had reached the Blacks' room, Sirius was out of bed and sitting beside Addie, holding her hand; perhaps wisely, rather than putting them in separate rooms, Andie had transfigured their bed into two singles, allowing herself space to work.

Andie sighed. "Honestly, Sirius, you could have waited for me."

"Why isn't she waking up?" Sirius asked in response.

Andie rolled her eyes, waving her wand over him. "At least you're okay. Now out, while I check her over."

"But …" Sirius began.

"Sirius Black, step out of the room so I can do my job," Andie ordered.

Jen grabbed her brother's arm. "Come on, Padfoot. We'll wait outside."

Andromeda followed them to the door and closed it behind them, before turning back to Addie's motionless body.

Performing the counter-curse once again, she frowned when the light of the spell flashed, but did nothing else.

"Alright," she murmured. "Let's try something else." Waving her wand in a more complicated pattern, she performed a far more detailed medical check.

Her eyebrows rose into her hairline. "Well, that would explain it."

Thinking for a second, she tried a different spell, seeking out the curse and chasing it out of her body and into a pillow on the other side of the room, before casting the counter curse on the pillow to destroy it entirely.

Now, Addie stirred, and Andromeda cast a Silencing Charm at the door - she wanted to speak to Addie before Sirius came back in.

Addie's eyes flew open a few seconds later and Andie placed a hand on her arm. "Addie, it's Andromeda; you're at Ravenscroft Manor; you're safe. Everyone's alright to my knowledge. Sirius is just outside, but I need to ask you something, okay?"

Addie blinked. "Yes? Yeah, of course. They're okay? The kids are okay?"

"They're fine," Andie repeated. "Addie, do you remember that conversation we had last summer, about the consequences of your imprisonment?"

Addie nodded. "Yes, I … Can I sit up?"

"Absolutely," Andie said, helping her. "Have you done anything about that?"

"About what?" Addie asked, blankly.

Andromeda sighed. "Have you taken any kind of potion, used any spells, charms, that kind of thing?"

"No," Addie answered, frowning. "I mean, I'd thought about it, but we're in a war, and … I've hardly been home."

"Is there anything you've done about it?" Andromeda prompted.

Addie frowned, thinking for a second. "Well, the only thing I can think of is … you know the Heir Ritual?"

Andromeda did, of course; she was a pureblood, raised with all the various rituals and rites associated with that.

The Heir Ritual was traditionally performed on the wedding night, aimed to ensure that the consummation of the marriage produced an heir.

Unlike the other rituals associated with pureblood weddings, this one was much more personal and, although not the intention, quiet romantic under the right circumstances.

"I know it's stupid," Addie continued. "I always actually liked that one - it was one of the rituals I would have fought for, even if Sirius didn't want to do the others. I wouldn't blame him for that, the others are just like a …"

"They're a business transaction," Andromeda finished.

"Yes! That's exactly what they are." Addie sighed. "The night we got married, I told Sirius I wanted to do the ritual - even if it wouldn't work, even if we couldn't have children. I just wanted to pretend for a little while that we were … that there wasn't a war, that things were just as they should have been."

"Incredible," Andie murmured. "I've never known that ritual to work like that."

"Like what?" Addie asked, frowning. "Andie, what's going on?"

Andie didn't answer for a second, conjuring a piece of parchment. She waved her wand over Addie and then over the parchment, on which writing suddenly appeared.

As she read, her disbelief grew, and it was clearly showing as Addie reached out to touch her hand.

"Andie?" She asked in a very small voice. "What's wrong?"

Andie smiled at her. "Nothing's wrong. You remember how I told you it would take a miracle for you to get pregnant?"

"Yes …" Addie answered. "Why?"

Andie squeezed her hand. "Well, you've had two."


	4. Unexpected Twists

**April 20th 1998**

Addie stared at her. "What?"

"You're pregnant with twins, dear," Andromeda said gently. "That's why it took me so long to wake you up; the first counter-curse wasn't working."

Addie's hands moved to cradle her stomach. "Are they okay?"

"They're okay," Andie reassured her. "The curse itself was not a danger. The first counter-curse would have endangered the babies, but your body knew that, which is why it rejected it. Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" Addie repeated. "You told me I couldn't have children, and I thought I was fine, and then Jen was pregnant, and I wasn't, and now I am too and …" A horrible thought struck her all at once. "I haven't seen Sirius since the day after our wedding, I must be two months along, at the least …"

"About that," Andie confirmed. "They're _fine_, Addie, I promise. If I had even the slightest doubt about that, I'd be rushing you to St Mungo's."

Addie's body finally relaxed. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome." Andie gave her cousin's wife a hug. "I need to get back to the infirmary - and I'm sure Sirius is about ready to break the door down."

Sure enough, when she opened the door, Sirius was right outside. "How is she?"

"Relax, Padfoot," Addie called. "I'm fine."

Andie gave her cousin a smile. "I'll see you later."

Sirius barely acknowledged her, moving to sit beside his wife. "Are you sure?"

"I'm fine," Addie said. "Where's Hermione? Is she okay?"

"She's at Potter Manor," Sirius told her. "Jen filled me in. Harry and Draco are missing at the moment, unfortunately; they went after Voldemort."

"Oh sweet Merlin," Addie murmured, closing her eyes.

"Amelia's sent a some aurors to track them," Sirius said. "They'll be okay."

Addie nodded, taking a deep breath, and opened her eyes. "Padfoot …"

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

Addie laughed. "Nothing! Stop being so paranoid!"

Sirius sighed, pulling her into his arms. "Sorry, love. I'm just … I've got used to bad news."

"That's not true," Addie said. "We won last night, the battle if not the war. Hermione's okay. We're okay. That's all good news. And I've got some more."

Sirius kissed her forehead. "Oh?"

Addie beamed up at him. "I'm pregnant."

Sirius froze in her arms. "What?"

"You're going to be a father again, love," Addie said. "It's twins - the ritual worked."

Sirius gaped at her, his mouth opening and closing silently while he searched for something to say. "Are they okay?" He croaked finally.

"Andie says yes," Addie said. "I had no idea until I woke up. If I'd known, I would never have been there, I swear."

"Of course you wouldn't," Sirius said, finally managing to produce words. "You wouldn't do anything to endanger our children …" he drew her into his arms again, stroking her hair. "I love you so much."

* * *

The first thing Jen noticed when she exited the floo at Potter Manor was the screaming baby. The second was the wands pointed at her.

"Relax," Hermione said, bouncing Serenity in her arms. "The floo wards have changed."

"I did tell you," Jen reminded James, taking her daughter into her arms. "Come here, sweetheart." She settled down in one of the arm chairs to feed her, as Remus came through the floo. "Surprise."

Remus gaped at James and Lily. "What … How …?"

"Daphne and Luna focused and apparated," Hermione answered flatly, reaching for her hot chocolate now her arms were free again.

"That's it?" Remus asked. "That's all we needed to do?"

"We're a bad influence on them," Hermione said. "A Slytherin and a Ravenclaw jumping in with both feet?"

"Yes, but still?" Remus asked. "That's so obvious - why didn't we think of that?"

"Most wizards don't have an ounce of logic," Lily said with a laugh, pulling Remus into a hug.

Hermione choked on her hot chocolate. "That's so weird. I said that exact same thing to Harry in first year."

"Great minds think alike," James said solemnly, hugging Remus in turn, clapping him on the back. "Good to see you again, Moony."

Remus shook his head, gripping James's shoulder. "Merlin, Prongs, I'd given up hope of seeing you two again."

"How exactly did it fall to just you lot to look for us?" Lily asked curiously. "Didn't the Ministry get involved at all?"

"Part of the story," Hermione said.

"We want that story," James said firmly.

Hermione sighed. "It's not that easy, Prongs — there are parts of the story that only Harry knows …" she trailed off when their expressions didn't change. "Alright, but can you at least wait for Sirius and Addie to get back? Because Addie and I need to pop to Hogwarts to make sure everything's alright and sorted there."

James and Lily exchanged a glance, having a silent discussion.

"It'll also be easier if I can get some other people here to help," Hermione added.

"Fine," Lily conceded with a sigh. "_Then_ you tell us."

Hermione nodded. "Alright. Just be aware that there might be some parts that we're a bit vague on because we only have Harry's recounts and he has a habit of understating things."

"That's an understatement in itself," Jen said, fixing her shirt. "There you go, poppet — go to Daddy."

Remus took the little baby into his arms, staring at her in amazement. "She's beautiful."

"She is," Jen agreed with a smile. "She also needs winding or it'll settle."

Remus shifted Serenity to his shoulder, rubbing her back. He hadn't done this since Harry was a baby, but apparently it wasn't easy to forget.

The fire flashed green again and Sirius stepped through, turning immediately to catch Addie as she appeared behind him.

"Honestly, Padfoot, I'm not made of …"

As her voice trailed off, Sirius turned to follow her gaze and his jaw dropped. "Prongs …"

"Hey, Padfoot," James said with a grin. "Miss me?"

"What do you think?" Sirius asked in response.

There was silence for a few minutes, until James broke it by clearing his throat. "So awkward hug or slightly-pathetic-but-still-cool handshake?"

Sirius coughed as well. "I mean, the handshake should be …"

The two shook hands heartily, their grips changing several times in a secret pattern known only to them, first made up when they were just six-years-old.

Lily rolled her eyes, slipping past them to hug Addie. "Oh, just hug — we're not going to think any less of you. Hi Shadow — you made it then?"

"Not exactly, but I got there in the end," Addie said with a weak smile.

James chuckled and pulled Sirius into a brotherly embrace. "Good to see you, Padfoot."

As soon as James released him, Lily threw her arms around him. "Missed you, little brother."

"Always with the age difference," Sirius grumbled, kissing her forehead. He released her and turned to Hermione, but Addie got there first.

"Thank goodness," she murmured into Hermione's hair. "Are you alright, sweetheart?"

"I'm not dead," Hermione answered. "Are you …?" She froze, pulling back to meet her stepmother's eyes. "Are you?"

Addie beamed and nodded. "I am and you are."

Hermione squeaked and hugged her again. "That's brilliant!" She felt Sirius's arms close around her as well, and let herself melt into her parents for a few moments.

Unfortunately, she could not ignore the obvious anxiety emanating from the Potters — or Addie for that matter.

"The school, Hermione," Addie murmured. "Who did we lose?"

Hermione sighed, and gave her the list of names in the same flat voice she had used at the Ministry.

Addie gave her a final squeeze and released her. "Someone will need to speak to Justin and Isla's parents — they're Muggles."

"We'll do it," Jen said tiredly. "We started, so we'll finish."

"And we need to go to Hogwarts," Addie said firmly. "I need to check on the students before I do anything. Where's Leona?"

"Having a lie-down," Lily said. "The apparition to Hogwarts took it out of her a bit. Do you want to check in on her?"

Addie hesitated, but shook her head. "When I get back. Or I'll never leave."

A graceful silver panther leapt through the window and landed at Jen's feet. When it spoke, it did so in Andie's voice. _"Jen, can you come back please? I have a situation."_

"What in the world …?" Jen got to her feet, hurrying towards the fireplace. "You two go; I'll meet you back here."

Flooing back through to Ravenscroft, Jen rushed up the stairs to the infirmary, following the sounds of raised voices.

Andromeda met her at the door. "If you don't do something, I will."

"What's happened?" Jen asked.

"Merlin only knows," Andie answered with a sigh. "It's bizarre to say the least."

The shouting was emanating, as Jen had guessed on the way up, from Molly Weasley, and seemed to be aimed at a young woman who was obviously fighting back tears.

Jen did not recognise her, but judging by the way Charlie was standing between her and his mother, she could take a guess. "That's quite enough."

Her interjection was enough to make Molly round on her. "You …"

"No!" Jen said sharply. "Enough, Molly. This is an infirmary. If you cannot behave appropriately, you will have to leave."

"My son is in a coma," Molly protested.

"Oh good, you do remember," Jen said coolly. "I had wondered. I suggest then, Molly, that you aim you concern in that direction rather than rebuking grown adults for decisions that had nothing to do with you."

"They eloped!" Molly shouted. "Did you know that? My son eloped with a dark witch!"

"Would you leave her alone?" Charlie said. Unlike his mother, he was not shouting, but a quick glance told Jen that he was on the verge of loosing his temper — and unlike some of his siblings, that was not an easy thing to accomplish.

"Charlie," Jen said quietly. "Let me please. Molly, they eloped. So what? It's war. People elope. People worry about taking the time to plan a wedding. You should know that — you eloped, did you not?"

"That's …" Molly began.

"Your parents did not approve of Arthur, did they not?" Jen continued, raising her voice a little. "You chose to elope and not come home until you were pregnant with Bill, did you not?"

"Arthur did not go to Durmstrang!" Molly shouted.

Jen sighed. "Molly, clearly you are beyond reason. Charlie, where's your father?"

"He had to go into work," Charlie answered, his voice clipped.

Jen nodded. "Molly, you have two choices. You can apologise to Charlie and his wife and stay here with Fred. Or you can leave."

Molly swelled up. "You cannot make me leave."

"This is my house," Jen said flatly. "I absolutely can. I can ask Andie to arrange for Fred to be moved to St Mungo's if …"

"No," George interrupted. "He's staying here. We're adults. And legally, I make that decision now, not Mum and Dad."

Jen smiled at him. "And you're both welcome, George. I mean it, Molly. There are patients recovering in this room; they do not need you throwing a fit. You are a grown woman. You either behave civilly to all of your children under my roof, or you are not welcome here."

For a second, Jen thought Molly might hex her. But instead, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.

Jen turned to stare after her. "I assumed she'd take option number one."

"I didn't," George said gloomily. "Fred and I aren't as important as the others."

"That's not true," Jen said immediately. "Your mother loves you all. It's just she's a little … set in her ways."

"That's one way of putting it," Charlie muttered, turning to his wife.

She fended off his attempts to comfort her, crumpling into tears.

Jen stepped around Charlie and put a hand on her arm. "Come on," she said gently. "Let's go and get a nice cup of tea. Give the boys a chance to talk."

She led the sobbing woman downstairs to the kitchen, sitting her down in one of the wooden chairs.

"Winky, some tea please." Jen called, adding, "Thank you," when the tea set appeared on the table.

"Now Katherine, I won't apologise," she continued, pouring two cups. "I cannot speak for Molly Weasley and I won't insult you by pretending I do. Do you take milk and sugar?"

"Y-yes please. Two sugars."

Jen added the necessary and handed Katherine the cup and a handkerchief for her face. "Dry your eyes, dear. Don't let it get to you."

"I didn't want to elope," Katherine admitted.

"I know; Charlie told me the story," Jen answered, finishing her own tea. "You had quite a lucky escape."

Katherine mopped at her eyes. "I wanted his parents to like me."

"Arthur will," Jen said confidently. "Charlie loves you so Arthur will love you. Molly …" she sighed. "Molly is … Molly … To be blunt, Molly has been a mother for a long time, to seven children. Worrying about them is ingrained by this point. She believes she knows what's best for them. To be honest, dear, _you_ are not the problem. The problem is that it wasn't her idea."

"Oh," Katherine said in a small voice. "So I've got no hope?"

"Take it slowly," Jen advised. "And remember that there are other people whose opinion matters other than Molly Weasley."

* * *

The rest of the teachers were startled — and rightfully so — when Hermione and Addie apparated directly into the middle of the staff-room.

"How on earth …?" McGonagall began.

"I'm the Heir," Hermione said. "I can get through." This was said with a hint of irritation - Hogwarts: A History had been her personal bible for years.

"Addie, I'm so sorry," McGonagall said. "You tried to warn us …"

"There's nothing we can do about that now," Addie said. "We've got a far bigger problem — the school's in ruins, we've got students injured and dead … We need to cancel the end-of-year exams."

"That's two out of six years so far," Hermione grumbled. "Three out of six, for Harry. For a school, we don't seem to do much of it."

"From the sounds of it, Albus has a lot of explaining to do," Flitwick said. "Lady Ravenclaw, why did you not come to any of us?"

"In our defence, we did," Hermione said. "Several times. We were dismissed. Or we got into trouble." She looked around. "Where's Hagrid?"

"Down in his hut," Sprout said with a sigh. "He's inconsolable. Albus was his hero."

Hermione frowned. "Maybe I should …"

"Not yet," McGonagall advised. "Wait until after the trial. You'll have the full story then."

"Probably for the best," Hermione agreed with a sigh. "We'll need a new headteacher though — even if I wanted to, which I don't, the castle won't let Dumbledore back in."

"Minerva?" Flitwick asked. "You're the deputy."

McGonagall frowned. "Yes, but I never had any aspirations to take over."

"I'm going to take a walk up to the headmaster's office," Hermione said. "See if anything was left lying around. This seems like a discussion for you to have amongst yourselves."

She left without letting anyone respond.

Demanding to be referred to properly at the Ministry had been a kind of defensive move to force them to treat her like an adult, rather than the student they were used to.

Now, however, she had no idea what she was doing.

'Owning' the school was all very well — but what did she know about running one?

The destruction seemed worse in daylight.

In some places, full walls had collapsed, leaving light streaming in from outside.

Strangely, the sound of Hogwarts had been muted since she claimed the inheritance, as though the castle no longer felt the need to fight for her attention, but she could still feel her as the wards recharged.

Hermione had no doubt that, if they just left the castle to her own devices, the inherent magic would repair her in time — unfortunately, 'in time' was almost certainly not before the next school year.

She picked her way through another pile of stone and glass, before reaching the gargoyle that normally guarded the stairway. It had been knocked aside and Hermione drew her wand, moving it back into place, before laying a hand on its head.

Her hand flowed momentarily, before the stone fixed itself and the gargoyle let out a groan. "Oh, that's better."

Hermione chuckled. "You're welcome. Can I go up?"

The gargoyle saluted and jumped aside. "Anything for you, Lady Ravenclaw."

With a roll of her eyes, Hermione stepped on to the staircase and rode it up the the large golden door, only to be stopped in her tracks by something entirely unexpected.

The night before, the plaque on the door had borne the words _Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore._

Now the words were very different — although not at all unwelcoming: _Headmistress Addison Marlene McKinnon-Black._

Apparently Hogwarts had made her own decision.


	5. Enough is Enough

**April 20th 1998**

Hermione stared at the words for a couple of minutes, blinked a few times to make sure she hadn't imagined them, and immediately turned on her heel, running back to the staff-room.

"We don't need a new head," she announced. "Hogwarts made the decision for us."

"Excuse me?" McGonagall asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The name-plaque on the door changed on it's own," Hermione explained.

"So who's the new headmaster?" Addie asked.

Hermione smirked. "You are."

Addie turned a dangerous shade of white and sank into one of the armchairs. "Hermione, you're not allowed to scare me like that; it's bad for the babies."

"Sorry, it was too …" Hermione stopped. "Babies? As in more than one?"

"Twins," Addie said with a sheepish smile.

Hermione's face lit up. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Addie said. "Although I've just remembered that no one else knows I'm even married."

"Well, it says McKinnon-Black on the door anyway," Hermione said. "The cat'll be out of the bag sooner or later."

"Valentine's weekend," McGonagall said. "You got married — that's why you were so upbeat at that staff-meeting."

Hermione cast a Silencing Charm at the door. "And, yes, for those of you who don't know, Sirius Black is innocent of all charges."

"This is all very interesting," Snape drawled (and whether he meant to or not, his lack of protest seemed to convince everyone that Hermione was telling the truth), "but it doesn't help us with the fact that Professor _Black_ is now our headmistress."

"I think it's a wonderful idea," McGonagall said.

"_Thank _you, Minerva," Addie said, then registered the words. "Excuse me?!"

"I think it's a wonderful idea," McGonagall repeated. "Hogwarts is absolutely right. How many times have we pointed out issues or suggested change only for Albus to give us some excuse about why it can't happen?"

"Several," Sprout said with a sigh.

"We need a young, popular head who will listen to logic," McGonagall said, "and who does't think they're completely infallible."

Addie sighed. "Fine. But I want to make it absolutely clear that if Hogwarts hadn't indirectly asked herself, I wouldn't even be considering it." She got to her feet. "I need to check on the kids and then we need to get home - James and Lily shouldn't need to wait any longer. We can talk about the school and any changes later."

There was a murmur of agreement and the two left the staff-room in search of the others.

"Do you want to examine your new office, Headmistress?" Hermione asked with a smirk.

"Oh, _don't_," Addie muttered. "I'm really not cut out for this, Hermione."

"Of course you are," Hermione said briskly. "You're a pureblood who was raised with all the traditions and values, but who doesn't care about bloodlines at all; you're open to change and won't resist introducing it; you went to school with the _Marauders_ so you can deal with pretty much anything; and most importantly, you genuinely care about the students, and they love you."

"Alright, alright," Addie said, blushing a little. "You talked me into it."

"Talked you into what?"

Addie relaxed a little, drawing Cedric into a hug. "Good, you're alright."

Cedric gave her a quick squeeze. "Been better, to be honest. But I've been worse as well, so it balances out."

"Where are the students?" Addie asked.

"Jen asked the house-elves to set up some sleeping bags," Cedric answered. "We've set up a couple of classrooms until someone can clear the paths to the dorms, but we haven't bothered separating people out into houses, or genders, or years, because …"

"Everyone's exhausted I should imagine," Addie said. "I'll check on them, Hermione - can you round up everyone who needs to be there?"

"Yes, of course," Hermione said, turning to Cedric as she hurried off. "Do you know where Neville is?"

"He's with Susan," Cedric answered. "She's distraught over Justin." He looked very upset himself - rightly so as he had been Justin's house-mate as well.

Hermione gave him a hug, and they held on for a few seconds, drawing strength from each other.

"Do I need to be there?" Cedric asked, finally releasing her. "Wherever 'there' is?"

"Probably," Hermione said. "James and Lily are getting a bit edgy and they want to know what happened."

Cedric grimaced. "I bet they are. So you need Neville … Ginny and Ron as well, I'm guessing?"

"Are they here?" Hermione asked. "I'd have thought they'd be at Ravenscroft with Fred."

"They Portkeyed back," Cedric said with a wry smile. "Something about dealing with their mother."

"Ah, okay," Hermione said. "Then yes, we …" she faltered. "I could just use the coins, couldn't I?"

Cedric grinned at her. "In your defence, you haven't slept in a while."

By the time Addie returned, reassured that the uninjured students were all bedded down and safe, Hermione had gathered Neville, Susan (still red-eyed and sniffling), Ginny and Ron. Daphne and Luna were at Ravenscroft Manor and - of course - no one knew where Harry and Draco were.

"Are we apparating again?" Addie asked.

"No, thank you," Hermione said, shuddering. "I could get you through the wards with me; everyone else, not so much."

"Alright, portkeys it is then," Addie said, taking her arm. "Everyone hold on."

Unfortunately for Sirius, he had not been expecting them and didn't get out of the way quite fast enough.

"At least it didn't hurt," Hermione said as Ron pulled her to her feet.

"Speak for yourself," Sirius grumbled, helping Addie up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Addie assured him, just resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Honestly, Sirius, you're not going to be this overprotective for the next seven months, are you?"

"Well …"

"Let me rephrase that," Addie said hastily. "You're _not_ going to be this overprotective for the next seven months. Did you tell them?"

Sirius gave her a sheepish smile. "Maybe?"

Addie shook her head. "You're impossible."

"Congratulations, Shadow," Jen said. "Hopefully yours goes better than mine."

"Yours hasn't been that …" Addie trailed off, finally turning to face her. "Okay, I take that back. You had the baby?"

"No, I borrowed this one from a woman in Hogsmeade," Jen said, handing the baby over. "Her name's Serenity Hope."

Addie cradled the baby, as Susan came over to see her as well.

"Right, introductions," Hermione said, sending a quick Patronus to Ravenscroft to ask Luna and Daphne to join them. "This is Ron and Ginny Weasley, Susan Bones, Neville Longbottom and Cedric Diggory."

"Goodness, Susan, you've grown up," James said with a smile.

Susan gave him a watery smile. "Well, the last time you saw me I was about five months old."

"That is true," James conceded.

In the midst of the greetings, the floo chimed and Daphne and Luna came through, followed by Arabella and - to everyone's relief - Mandy.

She was still very pale and a little unsteady on her feet, but she was smiling.

Once Lily had finished hugging her, her Healer training kicked in, and Mandy was soon seated in one of the armchairs, tucked in with a blanket.

"I'm okay," she kept saying.

"Look at it this way," Jen said, placing Serenity into her arms. "You get to play bassinet."

Mandy's jaw dropped. "You had the baby?"

"No, I borrowed that one to cheer you up," Jen said with a grin.

"You need a new one," James informed her.

Mandy ignored him, cradling Serenity to her chest. "Jen, she's gorgeous."

"Isn't she?" Jen agreed, perching on the arm of the chair. "Okay, I think James and Lily have waited long enough …"

"What happened?!" Lily demanded. "How are you alive? Why do people keep talking about a 'first war'? How come everyone knows about the prophecy? What …"

"Lily," Jen interrupted firmly. "We will tell you. But we need to go in chronological order. So … who's going to start?"

"You've got the first part, I think," Sirius said.

Jen frowned. "Not really. Someone - Dumbledore to the best of our knowledge - hit me with a Memory Charm and I woke up believing I was a Muggle."

"How did you end up next door to Lily's sister, by the way?" Arabella asked.

"I'm not sure," Jen admitted. "To my best guesses, they had moved and she hadn't lived there the last time he bothered looking at her. The next time he bothered, he didn't think about where he put me."

"You lived next door to Petunia?" Lily asked. "I'm so sorry."

Jen cracked a smile. "That's alright, Jade; I survived. But the next part is Sirius."

"Not quite," Hermione said quietly. "The next part is me. I was there, after all, but …" She took a deep breath. "Do you two know how Voldemort found you?"

"Merlin, Mione," Ron muttered. "Ease them in gently, why don't you?"

Lily squeezed James's hand. "We assumed Peter had been killed." She looked around the room. "I'm hoping he was killed."

Sirius was staring at his feet and no one else seemed to want to say anything.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione said quietly. "He was the spy."

James stared at her. "Excuse me."

Jen slipped an arm around Mandy's shoulders as she leaned into her. "It was obviously a huge shock."

"I'm so sorry," Sirius whispered.

This broke through Lily's welling tears and James's simmering anger.

"Padfoot, what are you apologising for?" James asked, sounding bewildered.

"I was the one that suggested him," Sirius said. "It's my fault."

"Oh, for the love of …" Hermione tugged a cushion out from behind her and threw it at his head. "You need to stop!"

"Have you been blaming yourself this whole time?" James asked incredulously, before sighing. "What am I saying, of course you have."

Lily reached across to take Sirius's hand. "Sirius, if you think we would blame you for that, you're a bigger idiot than I thought you were. And I assure you I try very hard not to underestimate that kind of thing."

Sirius finally cracked a smile, squeezing her hand. "Thanks Lily-Flower."

Lily turned back to Hermione. "What happened after I … disappeared?"

Hermione swallowed. "Harry was crying. I think I was too scared to. Voldemort … he threw the Killing Curse at Harry."

James and Lily's joint cries of horror startled Serenity awake and Mandy rocked her gently.

"Ssh, sweetheart, it's alright."

"I don't understand," Lily whispered. "You said Harry was alright a few hours ago."

"And he was," Hermione agreed. "For some reason, and I don't think anyone fully understands why, the Killing Curse backfired."

"What? But …?" Lily immediately turned to her husband. "Can someone do that?"

"I've seen Jen do it," Ginny offered.

Jen turned a little red. "Yeah, I didn't know I could do that until I did it. We think it's something to do with Lily being willing to sacrifice herself."

"That … would kind of make sense," James said slowly. "But what happened to Voldemort?"

"Well, that was the amazing thing," Ron answered. "He disappeared. Everyone figured he died."

"That's why everyone was so willing to believe that Harry was 'The Chosen One," Jen explained. "He's the Boy-Who-Lived."


	6. Making Changes

**April 20th 1998**

_"… _Next thing I know, Voldemort's disapparated and then Harry and Draco vanished after them," Hermione said. "There was complete chaos, the Ministry showed up and … then you did. So you know what happened next."

It was dark outside again by now; the tales of the Golden Trio as Neville had called them, only half-jokingly, had taken all day.

Susan was curled up so close to Cedric she may as well have been sitting on his lap. Second year had been difficult for her in particular due to all the memories of Justin.

Ginny had handled it only marginally better, although her trip to the Chamber seemed to have helped her.

"Do we know where they are?" James asked hoarsely. "Harry and Draco, I mean?"

All eyes turned to Ginny, who cleared her throat. "I don't know where they are. I know that they were planning this for a while - I think they'd intended on going after Harry turned 17, but then everything happened and they had a shot. I know they've got a tent, but that's all I know. We … We closed the link."

Jen gave her a sad smile. "That is the best thing to do, sweetheart."

Lily rested her head on James's shoulder. "I just can't believe that this all happened at _Hogwarts_. It's supposed to be safe."

"We had issues when we were there," James reminded her, with a tone that suggested he didn't disagree with her.

"Yeah, but the teachers weren't actively causing them," Lily said. "When Harry was born, we signed him up for Hogwarts, because we believed Albus would look after him. Not raise him like a lamb for slaughter."

Her voice broke on the last word and she turned her face into James's shoulder, shaking with tears.

Addie was restless. She was still shaken from the revelation that Sirius (and Hermione and Harry) had nearly lost their souls - which her husband had conveniently left out of his original retelling - and even the familiar weight of her sister curled up against her was not soothing her.

Leona had joined them about halfway through first year and the two sisters had been clinging to each other ever since.

The two women were so very different that people often forgot that they were still twins and that connection was not solely in their appearance.

It was a mark of this connection that Leona, despite spending her first six years at Hogwarts completely besotted with Sirius, had never shown a second of jealousy when her and Addie began dating in seventh year.

Certainly learning of their marriage and Addie's pregnancy had evoked nothing more than a heartfelt wish to have seen it and excitement over becoming an aunt.

Gently untangling herself from her sister, Addie got to her feet, drawing everyone's attention.

"I need to go to Hogwarts," she announced. "I won't be long; I just … I have something I need to do."

Murmuring the Portkey phrase, she landed in her private quarters. The journey was a lot smoother than usual - she could feel the wards around Hogwarts guiding her landing.

At some point, she would need to look at that; figure out how the wards had realigned to her control rather than Dumbledore's.

Right now, however, she set off out of her quarters and her classroom to the hospital wing.

In theory, most of the students injured in the battle who had not been serious enough for St Mungo's had been transported back to Hogwarts.

To her surprise, as she approached, she could hear loud voices from inside. Even more surprisingly, she could not her Poppy admonishing those responsible.

Concerned, Addie entered the room with one hand on her wand, but it was just an argument and not a duel that was causing the noise.

"Poppy," she said sharply. "What on earth is going on?"

Poppy turned to her, her face pinched with anger. "I have just advised Mr and Mrs Brown of Lavender's condition."

Addie turned to the other two adults in the room immediately. "Mr and Mrs Brown, I am so sorry …"

"This is absolutely outrageous," Mr Brown interrupted. "We are trying to help you people, and she is refusing to release it into our custody."

Addie stopped mid-sentence, her mouth hanging open for a second, before turning to Poppy.

The mediwitch nodded, confirming that Addie had indeed heard correctly and, no, it was not a slip of the tongue.

"With all due respect, Mr Brown," Addie said, ice beginning to enter her voice, "Lavender is still unconscious, and from the sounds of it, I would not be comfortable releasing _her_ into your custody either. Lavender is of age now, she is capable of making her own decisions, and I am perfectly happy to provide her with lodging until she graduates. When Lavender wakes up, I will ensure that you are informed; however unless I am satisfied that she will receive the same level of care and love from her parents as she would had she not been infected, she will be going nowhere."

"We will be taking this to the Ministry," Mrs Brown warned her. "A werewolf has no place at Hogwarts."

"I think Lady Ravenclaw would take exception to that," Addie said. "If I have to arrange for home tutoring for her NEWTs, I certainly will, but I doubt it will be necessary. And I doubt that people will be happy with me expelling one of the heroes of Hogwarts."

Neither parent seemed to know what to say to that; they turned on their heel and stormed out of the infirmary.

Addie took a deep breath and let it out slowly, before turning to Poppy. "Please tell me all of the other beds in here are …"

"Warded and silenced," Poppy finished. "No one heard a thing."

"Good," Addie said. "Not that I think anyone here would turn on Lavender, but it should be her decision for them to find out. Leave her to me; if it's not me, Jen and Remus will look after her."

"An excellent idea, Headmistress," Poppy said, shaking her head. "The nerve of some people."

"How is everyone in here?" Addie asked.

Poppy sighed. "Well, there are some pretty nasty injuries, but everyone should be alright eventually; I'm more concerned about the students moved to St Mungo's."

"How many were moved there?" Addie asked, realising with a start that she had no idea.

"Thirteen, I believe," Poppy answered. "I assumed fourteen, but I'm guessing from what you said earlier that Miss Brown is with Jen?"

"Safe and sound," Addie assured her. "Although still unconscious to my knowledge. Are you alright for manpower in here?"

She was almost unwilling to ask - she didn't want to sound like she was suggesting that Poppy was incapable - but to her surprise, Poppy smiled.

"Actually, yes," she said. "I was worried myself, but it appears that several of the sixth and seventh years trained as healers - but you knew that."

Addie did not bother with embarrassment. "Of course. The DA were preparing for all eventualities."

"At least someone was," Poppy muttered. "In any case, they have already come to me with a rota to assist in the infirmary. Actually, it was something I wanted to talk to you about at some point - it's something I wouldn't mind continuing; not just for the extra manpower, but also to give students interested in healing a head-start."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Addie said warmly. "We have the fifth year career consultations anyway - those who are interested in becoming a healer can have the option of signing up for a kind of apprenticeship with you."

"If we work alongside St Mungo's, we could make it an official NEWT," Poppy suggested. "Just a practical of course - they would still need full training and that has quite enough theory."

Addie would be quite happy to stand and talk to Poppy about this all day - it felt wonderful focusing on something good coming out of the drama and tragedy of the last few days - but there was a reason why she had come to Hogwarts, and it wasn't just to check on the students. "Poppy, can I ask you to reach out to your friends at St Mungo's and set that up? I don't know nearly enough about Healing."

Poppy beamed at her. "Yes, of course. And thank you. Albus would rather have shut it down because he didn't have the knowledge base than let someone else sort it out."

"Well, I'm not Albus," Addie said firmly. "Now can you tell me about the students here please?"

Poppy walked her through the infirmary and explained the injuries and treatments for each one. Those that were awake greeted her with reasonable cheerfulness, and she made a point of telling them how proud she was.

Before Addie left the infirmary, she had one more question that was bugging her. "Poppy, do you scan students for any sign of abuse or neglect?"

"Yes of course," Poppy said, sounding a little indignant. "All first years get a routine check-up to ensure vaccinations are up to date and to have a general welfare check-up."

"Did you see Harry in first year?" Addie asked. "Or Hermione for that matter?"

Poppy frowned. "Well, I'm sure I did … Didn't I?"

"Well, Harry was being neglected at home," Addie answered, "and Hermione was being abused by her father. Not that she uses that word."

"Well, I would have picked that up," Poppy said with certainty. "So I can't have seen them. Although why I missed them …"

"When you speak to your friend at St Mungo's," Addie said, "ask them to check you for Memory Charms and Compulsion Charms - they seem to have been flung around our group rather free and easy. And …"

"Make appointments for the rest of the teachers as well," Poppy finished. "Absolutely, I will."

"Thank you, Poppy," Addie said heavily. "I have a feeling the next few weeks aren't going to be any easier."

With a brief squeeze of Poppy's hand, Addie left the infirmary to head to the Head's office.

The gargoyle jumped aside without a password and she took the staircase up, pausing in front of the door to run a finger across her name, unable to keep from smiling.

She was fairly sure it was the first time she had seen her married name written down - although she still hadn't decided whether she was going to hyphenate.

Still, being McKinnon-Black would help the students who would probably all call her Professor McKinnon by habit anyway.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and stepped into a room filled with the uproar of gossiping portraits.

The uproar was to be expected - this had never happened in Hogwarts' history.

Even Phineas Nigellus Black - easily the most hated headmaster ever - had retired and was not magically removed by the castle.

"Please!" She said loudly, cutting through them. "You're going to give me a headache."

"Ah, if it isn't my rumoured great niece-in-law to be," Phineas Nigellus said a little snidely. "I assume you can shed some light on this."

"Well, first of all, I am already your great niece-in-law," Addie said, resting a hand on her stomach. "And carrying the next generation."

Phineas Nigellus blinked at her, then sniffed. "Pureblood at least."

There was a slight smile lingering at the corner of his mouth, so Addie left that alone. "Secondly, this was not my decision, but I am apparently, the new headmistress. Albus has been …" she sighed. "He's been making a lot of questionable decisions."

"We knew that much," Dilys Derwent said anxiously. "Although what he's been doing, we don't know."

"Well, that makes sense," Addie said, looking around the office. "He wouldn't be stupid enough to talk about anything like that in front of you." She frowned. "The artefacts in this office - do they belong to Albus or the school?"

"They belong to the school for the most part," Armando Dippet said. "Albus keeps his personal items at his home."

"Okay," Addie said, "which is where?"

"No one knows," one of the other portraits said - she couldn't tell which one. "He has quarters through there," he pointed at the bookcase, "but I don't think he keeps anything in there."

Addie went over to the bookcase anyway. She couldn't see any kind of door, or any kind of portrait that she could give a password to.

She scoured the shelves, looking for some kind of clue. A book just above her head caught her attention. She couldn't quite make out the author, but it was called 'The Passageway'.

On a whim, she pulled the book from the shelf, and the case swung forward, revealing a small bedchamber.

Her small victory was short-lived, however; it appeared that the portrait was right.

There was nothing in the room that held any kind of personal connection at all - no portraits, no pictures, nothing.

There wasn't even a wardrobe - just a small bedside table, but the drawers were empty, and there was only a book lying on top. She flicked through it, but it was just a regular novel, nothing tucked between the pages.

With a sigh, she returned to the office, pulling the bookcase closed behind her and replacing the book. "Well, that was anti-climactic. My quarters are nicer than those."

"Traditionally, the headmaster does not stay at Hogwarts through the school year," Phineas Nigellus said. "Most of us travelled home one way or another."

Addie frowned. "That doesn't seem very safe. What happens if something happens while you're not here? For that matter, I had a one day honeymoon with my husband because I was here, and planned a wedding through my sister-in-law. Why does the headmaster get all the fun?"

The portraits all looked at each other, and Addie sighed. She had a feeling that the answer to that question was 'that's the way it's always been done'.

Leaving that query for another day, she wondered over to the Pensieve and poked the contents with her wand. However, there was only one memory in there - the one Harry must have found.

She had a look around the base of the Pensieve to see if there were any stored memories, but it was unlikely - as far as she knew, it wasn't common practice to keep memories anywhere other than a Pensieve, unless it was being stored for trial.

And something told her Dumbledore would not have wanted that.

She sighed and turned back to the portraits. "Is there anything here that's going to help me?"

"Albus did have a journal that he kept in his desk drawer," Dilys offered. "Whether he took it with him is a different matter."

"Won't that be warded?" Addie asked.

"Unlikely," Phineas Nigellus sniffed. "Only the headmaster can open the desk drawers. And that is now you."

Addie rounded the desk and held a hand over the desk drawer for a second, reassuring herself that the wards wouldn't harm her, before pulling it open to reveal a small red diary.

She flicked through it, confirming that it was Dumbledore's handwriting and that it was in English. "Wonderful, thank you. Hopefully I'll have more information for you when I get back."

Tucking the journal into her pocket, she made her way out of the office and out of the castle; she wanted to have a look at the damage, and the wards, before she went home.

Outside, the damage to the castle looked worse; there were bricks and stones littered across the grounds, patches of grass had been burned by stray spells, and here and there were large stains that she tried to pretend weren't blood.

As she approached the gates, she allowed the wards to come into sight. Nothing had changed since the last time she did this, but they were clearer, and she could feel them as she drew nearer.

With a heavy sigh, she slipped through the wrought-iron gates and apparated back to Potter Manor.

She found Jen in the living room with Amelia, rocking a newly-awakened Serenity in her arms.

"Everything okay?" Jen asked her.

Addie shrugged. "It's Hogwarts. It's a mess, but I think we'll be okay. Where's everyone else?"

"At Ravenscroft mostly," Jen answered, shifting Serenity to her shoulder. "James and Lily went for a walk - they're a little overwhelmed."

"I don't blame them," Addie said, sinking into one of the sofas. "I was overwhelmed, and Sirius gave it to me slowly - don't," she added, pre-empting Jen's predictable quip.

Jen shut her mouth, smirking.

"I can't imagine getting it all at once like that," Addie continued. "Not that Sirius had told me everything anyway, as it turns out."

Jen made a little noise of sympathy in her throat. "Would you like baby cuddles?"

Addie cracked a smile. "I'd love baby cuddles." She took Serenity into her arms, tucking her up against her chest.

For only being a day old, Serenity did not seem bothered in the slightest by being passed around from pillar to post. She yawned, curled her tiny fingers into Addie's robes, and fell asleep.

Above them, the library door closed, there were footsteps on the stairs, and Hermione appeared, looking tired.

"I thought we'd lose you in there for hours," Jen said.

"I can't," Hermione murmured. "I just .. I can't."

Shifting Serenity a little, Addie held an arm out to her, and Hermione curled up beside her, resting her head on her shoulder.

"What happens now?" She asked quietly.

Jen sighed. "Well, that's the question, isn't it? Personally, I would rather wait to deal with Dumbledore until after Harry's back and after Voldemort's dead - otherwise, we're going to have the irrational 'how will we cope without him' thought brigade."

"We may not have a choice," Amelia pointed out. "I cannot keep him in custody indefinitely - at best I can give Harry a few weeks. I can start with the Death Eater trials, which should distract everyone and buy us some time. It'll get them out of Jen's dungeon at least."

"It's not a dungeon," Jen said tiredly, with a tone that suggested she'd had this discussion before. "A dungeon is underneath a building and inhabited by overgrown bats. Mine's in my back garden and Snape's nowhere near it."

Addie could feel Hermione giggling against her, and she allowed herself a smile, but she had another concern.

"There is something else we need to consider," she said. "Ginny can hold the Slytherin and the Malfoy seat by proxy, but she can only vote through the Malfoy seat. An Ancient and Noble proxy can't vote without written consent from the head or the heir."

"Is that a problem?" Hermione asked.

"It wasn't," Jen said. "But I'm the chief witch now, which means I can't vote, so we're now down to three out of six Ancient and Noble families, and that's not a majority."

"You can't swing a trial that way though, can you?" Hermione asked.

"No," Addie answered. "But if their majority votes a certain way, their votes count for double. I don't know why."

"The Death Eater trials won't be a problem," Amelia said, "as long as James does what he does best."

"What's that?" Addie asked.

Jen grinned. "Talk a room into agreeing with him and thinking it was their idea in the first place."

"That sounds very Slytherin," Hermione said.

"It is," Jen said. "Everyone always forgets Aunt Emily was a Snake. She might have died when James was nine, but believe me she taught him well first."

Addie smiled. "To be honest, even if James is out of practice, we won't have a problem. These people went after the school and the kids. Even the darker families should be shamed into voting against them, and those that wouldn't be are the ones in the dock. I'm more concerned about Dumbledore's trial."

"So am I," Amelia agreed. "I'd feel better if we had Sirius there to re-take the seat."

Jen pinched the bridge of her nose. "Clearing him before Dumbledore is going to be difficult - we can't exactly try him in absentia, but we can't just walk him into the courtroom either."

"Why can't we try him in absentia?" Hermione asked. "Didn't you say Dumbledore could have called a trial as chief wizard?"

"He could," Jen agreed. "I can't. Or, rather, I can, but it won't do any good, since I'm his sister."

Amelia was nodding in agreement. "It won't help him, Jen; you're right."

Addie shifted to extract the journal from her pocket, not easy when she was trying not to dislodge Serenity or Hermione. "This might help; it was in Albus's desk. There's nothing else at all. I haven't read it though; I don't want to."

Amelia pulled a face. "I would, but I can't present the case against him. There hasn't been an official investigation, so if I present it, it could endanger the whole thing. Plus, if he hires a defence lawyer, they could argue that the journal is private property and there was no warrant."

"I'll do it," Hermione offered. "Hogwarts is private property now I claimed the bloodline, so I could give permission to remove the journal. I can do what I like about it." She sat up, holding out her hand for the journal.

Addie hesitated. "That's fine, as long as you're careful. But, Hermione, you haven't slept since the night before last. Now is not the time to start preparing for a court case. Go to sleep and you can start tomorrow."

For a second, she thought Hermione would argue, but the girl sagged a little. "You're right," she murmured. "I'm exhausted."

Addie pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Go to bed."

"Yes mum," Hermione stood, stretched, bid them goodnight and disappeared towards the stairs.

Addie turned to Jen with a bright smile. "Did she just call me mum?"

Jen nodded. "She did."

Warmth spread though Addie's chest, but the thought of parents reminded her of the other reason she needed to speak to Jen. "Oh, I saw Lavender Brown's parents."

"Oh?" Jen asked. "How were they taking it?"

"Informed me that there was no place for a werewolf at Hogwarts," Addie answered in a clipped voice, "and demanded we release 'it' into their custody. I told them where to shove it."

"Good," Amelia said darkly. "What an awful thing to say about your own daughter."

Jen stood abruptly. "Are you okay hanging on to her, Shadow?"

Addie frowned. "Yeah, of course. Is everything okay?"

Jen didn't answer, heading straight for the reception room and the fireplace.

By the time she had flooed to Ravenscroft Manor and reached the makeshift infirmary - now mostly being dismantled as patients were moved either to St Mungo's or Hogwarts - her anger had settled into a kind of single-minded determination.

"Jen," Andie greeted. "I think that's everyone, except Lavender. Has someone been able to speak to her parents?"

"Yes," Jen answered. "It didn't go well."

"Oh dear," Andie said with a sigh. "She's not going home then."

Jen swallowed. "No, she's not. When she wakes up, I'll speak to her, but if it's okay with you, I'm going to move her to one of the guest rooms."

"Yes, of course," Andie said. "She can be moved."

Jen flicked her wand and levitated Lavender on to a stretcher, before floating it out of the infirmary and up to the next floor.

She found an empty bedroom, done up in shades of brown and cream, and moved Lavender to the bed, tucking her in like she would have Hermione or Harry.

Conjuring a piece of parchment and a quill, Jen jotted a quick note.

_Lavender,_

_My name is Jennifer Lupin; I am Harry's godmother. You are in a safe house. The battle of Hogwarts is over. _

_When you wake up, please call Winky, the house-elf, and ask her to fetch me. I will then fill you in._

_Jen_

She tucked the note under one of Lavender's hands so she would see it when she woke up. "You'll be alright," she murmured. "You're one of us now. We'll look after you."


	7. Breaking Point

**April 21st 1998**

Lavender awoke screaming the following evening, and Jen did not need Winky to tell her she was awake.

She was on her feet in a second, a split-second before Remus, and they both sprinted upstairs to the room Lavender had been recovering in.

Jen took one look at her pale, tear-stained face, and immediately sat down on the mattress, opening her arms to the teenager.

Lavender had never met Jen, but she didn't hesitate, burying her face in the older woman's shoulder, shaking with sobs.

"It's alright," Jen murmured. "You're okay."

Remus hovered beside them, looking awkward, and Jen smiled weakly up at him. "Honey, can you get the drapes, please?"

**_At the very least, stop hovering over us?_**

Remus grinned sheepishly, and hurried to close the drapes, lighting the lamps with a wave of his wand at the same time.

Jen rubbed Lavender's back and loosened her grip a little. "How are you doing, sweetheart?"

Lavender sniffled, pulling back to wipe at her eyes. "Okay, I guess. Sorry, I just …"

"It's alright," Jen repeated gently. "You were knocked out in the middle of a battle; of course you panicked when you woke up. Now, Lavender, my name is Jennifer Lupin; I'm Harry's godmother."

Lavender's eyes widened and darted to Remus. "Hello, Professor."

"Good evening, Lavender," Remus said kindly. "You can just call me Remus now, though. I'm not your teacher anymore."

Lavender nodded, glancing around the room. "Where am I?'

Jen took a deep breath. "You're at our home, Lavender. We moved you from the infirmary. Do you remember what happened?"

Lavender frowned. "Not - not really. I remember being dazed, and beginning to black out - didn't my portkey work?"

"It worked," Jen said gently, "but not in time. Fenrir Greyback was at Hogwarts that night, and it was a full moon."

If Lavender had not known who or what Greyback was, the second part of Jen's sentence clued her in. She turned a horrible shade of white. "Am I …?"

"You're a werewolf," Jen said. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Lavender said, sounding automatic. "My parents … they didn't take it well, did they?"

Jen raised an eyebrow. "No. I didn't speak to them, but Professor McKinnon did. She kicked them out of Hogwarts."

Lavender managed a small smile. "Good. I can't go back, can I?"

"Absolutely, you can," Remus said firmly. "If I could manage seven years without the Wolfsbane Potion, you can certainly manage one with it."

"They'll try to stop it," Lavender said, looking at him now. "They'll go to the Ministry if they have to."

"Hogwarts is privately owned," Jen told her. "Now that Lady Ravenclaw has reclaimed the castle, the Ministry can't stop you returning if you want to."

Lavender sniffled a little. "I don't know what I want to do right now."

"Eat something?" Jen suggested. "Cry? Run a marathon?"

The last one at the very least surprised a smile out of her.

"I wouldn't mind something to eat," Lavender said, a little tentatively.

Jen smiled. "Not a problem. Winky," she called, "can you get Lavender some dinner please."

A plate appeared in front of them a few minutes later with some chicken sandwiches.

"Thank you," Lavender said quietly.

"And don't worry," Jen added. "You can stay with us for as long as you need to or want to."

"Are you sure?" Lavender asked.

"I don't make offers I don't mean," Jen told her kindly. "You are absolutely welcome."

* * *

**April 25th 1998**

Over the next few days, Lavender slowly began to relax into life at Ravenscroft Manor. Hermione had gone to visit her in between research, but she was very reluctant to see anyone else.

Meanwhile, the Death Eater trials had started.

In between trials, Addie visited Hogwarts, partly to make sure everyone was alright, and partly to reaffirm some connection to life rather than death.

This time round, every single Death Eater had been given Veritaserum, and the details that ensued were enough to turn anyone's stomachs. Even some of the families on the darker side, who had balked at the idea of giving purebloods Veritaserum, had looked vaguely nauseous at the end of some of the testimony.

It was during one of these visits to Hogwarts that Addie ran into the rest of the sixth year Gryffindors.

Well, to be specific, she didn't exactly run into them.

She had just left her classroom, when they started calling her.

"Professor McKinnon!"

Addie stopped in her tracks, waiting for them to catch up with her. "Good afternoon, Parvati, Seamus, Dean - have you all recovered?"

"How's Lavender?" Seamus asked, sounding worried. "She's not in the infirmary, and Madam Pomfrey won't tell us."

"Lavender's okay," Addie assured her. "She's still recovering."

Parvati cast a furtive glance up and down the corridor. "We know, Professor."

Addie raised an eyebrow. "Know what?"

"About Lavender," Parvati answered. "Dad wrote to me. He was friends with her dad, but her dad was saying some really awful things so he broke all contact with him. He wants to know if she needs a place to stay."

Addie sighed. "That's very kind of your father, Parvati. She's with Professor Lupin and Lady Black at the moment, but I will let her know …"

"Can we see her?" Seamus asked.

Addie grimaced. "She's not really up for visitors at the moment, I'm afraid."

"Please," Dean said. "She needs to know that we don't care. I mean, we do care, but we don't care. About what happened. Well, we do care about what happened, but …"

"Man, quit while you're ahead," Seamus said. "Professor McKinnon knows what you mean."

Addie was trying - and failing - to hide a smile. "I do indeed. I was friends with Professor Lupin at school."

Seamus grinned. "Then you _do_ know what we mean."

"I do." Addie sighed. "Very well, I will bring you along. However, if Lavender does not want visitors, you need to leave."

"Of course," Parvati agreed. "If she doesn't want to see us, then we'll respect that. But she needs to know that we're not staying away."

"You said it better," Dean grumbled, as they followed Addie back into her classroom. "Hey, Professor, has there been any word from Harry?"

"Unfortunately not," Addie said. "The aurors weren't able to follow the apparition trail because they'd waited too long, so now they're trying to figure out where they might be." She paused, realising that she had a slight problem with getting the three of them back to Ravenscroft. "Hang on." Rooting around in her pocket, she found her two-way mirror. "Padfoot, where are you?"

Sirius's face appeared immediately. "Potter Manor, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Addie assured him immediately, "but some of Lavender's friends would like to visit her and I'd rather take them direct to Ravenscroft."

"Oh, right," Sirius said. "I'll floo there now; give me a few minutes."

"Thank you." Addie slipped the mirror back in her pocket. "Sorry about that. My lovely best friend decided to give me a Portkey that takes me direct to my husband rather than to a specific place."

"That's so sweet," Parvati said. "I didn't know you were married."

"Most people don't," Addie admitted. "He's still wanted for mass-murder."

"Well, Harry and Hermione already told us the truth," Seamus said, "and showed us as well, so we won't say a word."

"I know that," Addie said with a smile. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have said anything. Right, that should have given him enough time." She held out her arm, and the three of them took hold.

Addie activated the Portkey and they were immediately transported to Ravenscroft Manor.

Ready for them this time, Sirius was able to jump out of the way as they arrived.

"Has she ever actually landed on you?" Seamus asked with interest.

"Far too many times," Sirius admitted, kissing Addie in greeting. "I think she's awake."

"I don't think she's sleeping," Addie said, "so that's a good bet. Remember what I said," she added to the three Gryffindors.

"We will," Parvati said, the two boys nodding earnestly. "We promise."

"Okay, then," Addie said, gesturing towards the stairs. "Come on." She led them up to the third floor, to the room where Lavender was recovering, tapping on the door before sticking her head round. "Hello Lavender."

"Hi Professor McKinnon," Lavender greeted, with a ghost of a smile.

"You have some visitors," Addie said gently.

Lavender's smile disappeared. "I don't want to see anyone."

Addie could feel the three of them deflate behind her. "Are you sure? They're very worried about you."

"That's because they don't know what happened to me," Lavender said.

"We do actually," Parvati said. "Your father told my dad and my dad stopped talking to him, and said that you can stay with us if you need to."

"We don't care," Seamus added. "You're still you, Lav. Let's face it, that time of the month can't get any worse."

Lavender stared at the door, unable to see her friends yet, and for a second, Addie thought she was going to cry.

Then she broke into a smile and started to laugh.

"Lavender?" Addie prompted.

"He's probably right," Lavender admitted, giggling. "Okay, they can come in."

Addie smiled and pushed the door open. The three of them piled into the room, and Lavender ended up right in the middle of a group hug.

Addie smiled and left them to it. And if she didn't get the other three back to Hogwarts until the next day - well, she was the headmistress now, after all.

* * *

**April 28th 1998**

The Death Eater trials were nearly over and Harry and Draco still had not reappeared.

Remus and Jen had completely moved back into Ravenscroft Manor, and the Bones' and the Longbottoms were still there as well, along with Lavender.

Sirius and Addie had stayed at Potter Manor with James and Lily, who had insisted that the Barters stay until they could help them find somewhere else to live.

Lily turned out to be a stress-baker, to Hermione's amusement, since Harry tended to do that as well.

She wasn't complaining, however, especially as she sat at the kitchen table eating cupcakes with James, Lily and Narcissa - Lily had insisted on Narcissa staying at Potter Manor as well, since it was more likely that Draco would return there than Ravenscroft.

She had just finished telling them one of the lighter and funnier stories from their time at Hogwarts that had been missed from the main retelling, when the front door of the house opened.

"It's me and Ginny," Ron's voice called.

"In the kitchen," Lily called back, although she looked confused. "Were you expecting them?" She asked Hermione.

"No," Hermione answered. "I figured Molly would want them as close as possible."

The two Weasleys emerged from the passageway, looking tired, although Ron's eyes lit up when he saw the cakes. "Cupcakes!"

Lily smiled. "Help yourselves. Is everything alright? You didn't floo."

"Couldn't get to the fire," Ginny said, dropping into the chair beside Hermione. "Ron apparated us in the end. Mum is … She's been acting weirder and weirder."

"Weird how?" James asked, pushing the cakes towards her.

Ginny smiled weakly, taking one and peeling the case off. "Well, she seems to have completely blanked the fact that Fred's still unconscious and she's focussing on setting Charlie and Bill up with various coworkers instead."

Hermione frowned. "But Charlie's married to Katherine and Bill's engaged to Fleur."

"Yeah, Mum doesn't like either of those things and she seems to have convinced herself that if she ignores it, it's going to go away," Ron said, through a mouthful of cake. Seeing Hermione's expression, he swallowed. "Sorry. These are really good, Lily, by the way."

Lily smiled. "Thank you. I knew that Charlie and Katherine were staying at Ravenscroft and that Molly wasn't happy about it - Jen's blowing Howlers out of the air every few hours."

"Sounds to me like Molly's having some kind of breakdown," James said. "One that's been coming for quite a while."

"I think it was your first year, you know," Ron said to Ginny.

"Probably," Ginny said with a sigh. "She won't admit anything's wrong though; we can't make her go to St Mungo's."

James grimaced. "Technically, your father could."

"Yeah, but he won't," Ron said. "He doesn't like doing the whole 'pureblood head of house' thing. Him and Mum are partners."

"As they should be," Lily said. "But she's not in any state to make a coherent decision by the sounds of it."

"He still won't do it," Ron said. "Not until Mum admits that."

"She's not going to admit it until she gets help," James said. "If she won't get help until she admits she needs it, they're just going to keep going round in circles."

"Welcome to our lives," Ginny muttered. "Can we stay here please?"

"Of course," Lily said immediately. "You're both welcome, always."

"Thanks," Ginny said. "I'll help you with the Howlers."

* * *

**April 30th 1998**

Lily did not get any Howlers, but for some reason Jen's doubled. Between the two of them, they concluded that Molly assumed that Ron and Ginny were at Ravenscroft - but she never once came to get them or, even more bizarrely, to see Fred, who was still comatose. George had declined all offers to move him to St Mungo's and insisted that, as long as Jen was agreeable (and she was), he felt far more comfortable with Fred remaining where he was.

Ten days after the Battle of Hogwarts, as the _Daily Prophet _had called it, Ginny was lying awake in her bedroom at Potter Manor.

The weak moonlight was streaming through a gap in the curtains, creeping across the floor and over her bed, as she gazed at the ceiling.

It was late - everyone else in the house was probably fast asleep - but sleep was alluding her.

She sighed, rolling onto her side in an attempt to get more comfortable. She was tired, but there was something niggling at the back of her head, something that was telling her that she shouldn't go to sleep, if she could just figure out what it was.

Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on the ticking of the clock across the room, in the hopes that maybe if she stopped chasing the thought, it would stop running and present itself to her.

It was certainly getting louder, whatever it was, and Ginny resorted to actually counting the ticks of the clock to try not to listen to it.

She had just given up, when suddenly the answer was there in her mind, so obvious that she was stunned she hadn't realised it ages ago.

She bolted out of bed and out of the room, not even stopping to grab a robe. Still in her nightdress, she darted downstairs on light feet and out of the front door and into the grounds.

She stopped dead, shivering in the cold night air, pausing only long enough for her eyes to adjust to the moonlight and confirm what she instinctively already knew.

A smile breaking out on her face, she sprinted forwards and flung herself at Draco, feeling his arms close around her to hold her close.

**_Hello darling._**

**_Don't you 'hello darling' me - do you have any idea how worried I've been?!_**

Draco laughed out loud and she pulled back to look him over, reassuring herself that he was still in one piece. Only then did she permit herself to kiss him, before turning to hug Harry with no less relief.

"Honestly," she said when he had released her, "I'll be surprised if Hermione doesn't kill you. She's been …"

She trailed off, her gaze finally settling on the strange bundle that the two had been dragging behind them when she first laid eyes on them.

It had collapsed where they had let go in order to greet her and her heart stopped. She was looking down at the still, lifeless body of Lord Voldemort.


	8. Reunions

**April 30th 1998**

It took Ginny a few minutes before she could speak. "Why are you dragging the body?"

"I'm not giving him the dignity of levitation," Harry said, a note of disgust in his voice.

Ginny took a tiny step closer. "He looks nothing like he did at sixteen."

"I suppose that's what splitting your soul does to you," Harry said.

His words sparked Ginny's memory and she smacked him on the arm. "That's for listening to Dumbledore and letting us think you were dead."

"I already did that bit," Draco said.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go inside. I'm freezing." She led them back into the house and they put Voldemort's body in a small room off the living room that she hadn't seen the Potters use yet.

Draco conjured a sheet and covered the body with it.

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Do you want to look at him?" Draco asked in response.

"Are either of you hungry?" Ginny asked.

Harry rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, but I'm not really in the mood for food right now."

There were footsteps on the stairs, and they stepped back into the living room in time for Hermione to appear, her hair in a cloud around her head.

She visibly sagged with relief when she saw Harry, stepping into his open arms.

"I don't have the energy to yell at you right now," she murmured into his shoulder.

"I'll enjoy it while it lasts," Harry joked weakly.

Hermione pulled back to look him over the same way Ginny had Draco. "Are you okay?"

"I want a nap," Harry said tiredly, "and a hug. And my mum. Not necessarily in that order."

Hermione smiled, kissing his cheek. "Come on."

"Harry," Draco said. "Pocket."

"Oh, yeah," Harry said, fumbling in his robes. He produced a small grey rat.

Hermione sucked in a breath. "Is that …?"

"Yeah, he's Stunned, but I'm not too worried about him," Harry said. "It's a long story - we'll tell you all tomorrow - but I have a lot of questions I want answered."

Ginny frowned, but conjured a small cage for him; Harry placed the rat inside and cast a Notice-Me-Not Charm on it.

"It's not that I think Padfoot will do anything stupid," he explained.

Hermione smiled knowingly. "Except it is, isn't it? Come on, time for bed." She reached out with her free hand to squeeze Draco's arm. "Welcome home."

"Come on," Ginny repeated, tugging Draco's hand. "You look dead on your feet."

Draco yawned. "That's not an unfair evaluation. What happened after we disappeared?"

"That can wait," Ginny said firmly. "Come on." She couldn't remember which room Draco had stayed in at Christmas and over the summer, so she took him up to her room. "Think you can stay awake for a bit longer?"

Draco nodded, kicking his shoes off. "Think so. Why?"

Ginny smiled. "Just wait here a moment." She slipped back out of the room and hurried up to the next floor, stopping outside Narcissa's door.

Her knock was quiet, but it was answered almost immediately.

"Ginny?" Narcissa asked, tying a robe around her waist. "What's wrong? Have you heard something?"

Ginny smiled. "They're back."

"Oh, thank heavens," Narcissa breathed, following her downstairs.

Unsurprisingly, in the short time she had taken to fetch Narcissa, Draco had crawled into bed and fallen asleep.

Ginny hovered in the doorway, while Narcissa knelt beside her sleeping son, touching his face gently.

His eyes fluttered open. "Mum?"

Narcissa hushed him, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "It's alright, my love. Sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

Draco nodded, squeezing her hand as he drifted off again. "Glad you're safe."

Narcissa wiped her eyes, straightening up. "That boy …"

"He's a good one," Ginny said softly.

Narcissa turned to her with a smile and embraced her warmly. "Thank you for coming to get me."

"Didn't want you to wait until tomorrow," Ginny said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Ginny."

Once the door had closed behind her, Ginny nudged Draco a little to get him to shift over, before settling down beside him.

His arms wrapped around her automatically, and she immediately relaxed. Their bond settled back into place as though it had never been closed, and she followed him into sleep.

* * *

Like Draco, Harry was obviously exhausted, but Hermione did not take him to his room - or hers for that matter.

"Mione," Harry said tiredly. "Why are we going to the Master Suite?"

Hermione smiled, knocking on the door. "Because you asked to."

"No, I didn't," Harry said, through a yawn. "I asked for a nap, a hug, and …"

As if on cue, the door opened, and Lily stopped dead, staring at her son. "Harry?"

"Mum …" Harry said blankly. "You're home."

Lily reached out a trembling hand towards her son. When her fingers touched solid flesh, she stepped forwards to envelop him in her arms. "Oh, Harry, thank God you're alright."

By the time they drew apart, Hermione had gone back to bed, leaving them to their reunion.

Lily took her son's face in her hands. "My God, you look like your father."

Harry gave her a watery smile. "I get that a lot. Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" Lily repeated. "You've been missing for ten days, Harry, and now you're here and alive - I'm amazing. You must be exhausted though, pumpkin."

"I am," Harry admitted, "but …"

"You can stay in here tonight, if you like," Lily offered. "There's plenty of room. I know you're nearly an adult, so I won't be offended if you'd rather not, but …"

"I'd like to," Harry said. "I will probably get nightmares though."

"You won't be the first, my love," Lily said, ushering him inside. "James?"

Since she got out of bed, her husband had somehow moved so he was spread out across the whole bed - quite a feat considering that the two of them together only took up a small portion of it.

"James?" Lily repeated. "Harry's home."

James stirred. "Hmm?"

"Harry," Lily sad tiredly. "He's home."

James waved his hand, and his glasses flew towards him.

Lily intercepted them with a sigh. "Honestly, every time you do that, they poke you in the eye - why do you keep doing it?"

"I'm training you as a Seeker," James said, taking them from her. "Speaking of Seekers, there's my boy!"

His words were cheerful and upbeat, and would have sounded as though he hadn't been worried in the slightest, were it not for the way his voice shook.

As James hugged their son, Lily shook out the duvet from where James had managed to twist it up in a knot. Once she was satisfied, she gently guided them both back to bed.

Harry was asleep before his head hit the pillow, and James wasn't far behind him.

Lily lay awake a little while longer, her son a comforting warmth against her side.

A lifetime ago, before they had moved to the cottage for 'safety', she and James had lain in this same bed on the night Albus had told them their son was in danger.

He had slept in their bed that night as well, too worked up by their obvious anxiety to settle in his nursery, but he had only been eight months old.

Now he was sixteen and almost a stranger. Almost everything she knew about her son was gleaned from other people.

Still, he was in the same situation with her and James, and with any luck, they would now be able to make up for lost time.

* * *

**May 1st 1998**

The following morning, the dining room at Potter Manor was absolute chaos.

Hermione had set a Patronus to Ravenscroft as soon as she woke up, so Sirius had only just released Harry from a bear hug, when Jen sprinted through the door and practically pounced on her godson.

"For the love of God, Harry, if you scare me like that again, you are grounded until you are thirty!"

Harry grinned, wrapping his arms around his godmother. "If you say so."

"I do say so." Jen held him out at arms' length, running a critical eye over him. "Anything broken?"

"No, ma'am," Harry answered immediately.

"Good." Jen turned to take her daughter from Remus so he could hug Harry as well. "Now say hello to your god-sister, Serenity."

Harry's face lit up in a smile and he sat down to allow the baby to be placed in his arms. "She's tiny."

"You weren't much bigger than that," Lily said with a smile.

Over breakfast, Harry and Draco were filled in on what had happened since they disappeared.

Once they had finished, Jen gave Harry and Draco a stern look over her coffee. "Alright. What happened?"

"Not much to be honest," Draco said. "It was mostly a lot of hiking until about … three hours before we got back."

"Less than that," Harry disagreed. "More like two."

"Either way," Draco said, "we followed the apparition trail to Albania and used the old Order maps to figure out where we were going, and then we did a lot of hiking. It took longer than we thought it would, but we finally reached the hide-out just after sunset …"


	9. Time for a Flashback

**Flashback to Albania, April 30th 1998**

One of Harry and Draco's concerns about this trip was that they might not be able to find Voldemort's base - and if they did, they wouldn't be able to recognise it.

To their surprise, however, they came across a large, grey, windowless building in the middle of the forest.

Initially, they hesitated.

Surely Voldemort would use some kind of protective wards to hide the place.

Then a familiar figure left the building.

Wormtail.

Draco narrowed his eyes, and raised his wand. "_Silencio. Accio _Peter Pettigrew."

Pettigrew flew towards them with a silent cry, and the two boys seized an arm each.

"I, Harry James Sirius Potter, do hereby invoke the life debt between us," Harry said. "So I intend, so mote be it." He looked at Draco. "Did that do it?"

"Yeah," Draco said. "That did it; I felt it."

"Okay." Harry turned back to Peter. "Here's what's going to happen. We're going to take the Silencing Charm off. You're not going to alert anyone that we're here. You're going to take us inside, and tell us where your master is. Got it?"

Pettigrew nodded wordlessly.

Draco removed the Charm with a flick of his wand. "Are there any guards?"

"No," Pettigrew answered. "He doesn't think anyone will find him here."

"Then how did we find him?" Harry asked.

Pettigrew shrugged. "You must have managed to apparate inside the wards. They stretch for miles."

Well, that explained why the Order had never found it before. They had never tracked the apparition trail, so they must have apparated to outside the wards.

Wormtail led them inside the building; sure enough, there was no one to be seen.

"They're all down that hallway there," Wormtail told them, pointing. "They've all been drinking since dinner."

"Brilliant," Draco said darkly. "That'll slow their reactions with any luck. You-Know-Who?"

He and Harry had agreed that using Voldemort's name this close probably wasn't a good idea, just in case.

"He's in a private chamber on the other side of the room," Wormtail answered. "There's no other way to get to it. There's about forty Death Eaters between you and him."

Harry nodded, and Wormtail seemed to take that as a sign. In a split-second, he had transformed and darted off into the darkness.

"Leave him," Draco said, pre-empting Harry's movement. "We've got bigger fish to fry. Life debt's completed; he won't sound the alarm, because that was part of it."

Harry pulled a face. "I ever told you how annoying it is when you're right? How are we going to do this?"

Draco thought for a second. "Take out as many as we can from the shadows. Disillusionment Charms maybe?"

"No," Harry said. "How do we keep from hitting each other?"

"Fair point," Draco said. "Still, take out as many as we can, and then hope for the best."

They crept along the hallway, keeping as close to the wall as they could, half-hidden in shadows.

Light was streaming out of a door up ahead and they could hear raucous laughter from inside.

They paused for just a second, preparing themselves.

Harry made a sign - _shoot to kill _\- and Draco nodded. They shook hands and took aim, through the small gap made by the open door.

They managed a few curses each before their cover was inevitably blown and they dived into the room before the Death Eaters could stream out, both preferring to carry this out in a larger space than the tiny corridor.

Later, both Harry and Draco would admit that they were relying on a great deal of luck. Neither of them were using anything less damaging than a Cutting Curse, and both of them were relying on the agility that came from being a Seeker to make sure that they dodged the returning fire - more than one Death Eater was taken out by their own comrades.

Harry and Draco had the advantage of a sharp mind, but the Death Eaters had the numbers, and the two ended up, backs against the wall, still facing at least twenty opponents.

"Two against twenty, boys," one of the Death Eaters said gleefully. "Odds don't look great, do they?"

The other Death Eaters had stopped their curses, watching the self-appointed leader begin what promised to be a typical monologue - Harry wondered if maybe Voldemort gave lessons - when suddenly he was struck by a Reductor Curse, his blood splattering over them as the curse shot straight through him and hitting another Death Eater behind him as well.

"Three against eighteen," Peter Pettigrew said. "Better odds, I think."

Both boys were startled, but neither was going to look this gift horse in the mouth.

The fight restarted with renewed vigor, and it became apparent that the Marauders' belief that Peter was a helpless dueller was somewhat incorrect - certainly, he was not as gifted as Jen or Sirius, but he could certainly hold his own.

So much so that between the three of them they managed to put down another twelve Death Eaters.

At this point, Harry and Draco reached the door into the next corridor and they darted through, Draco slamming the door behind them.

"Okay," he whispered, "he should be down there."

Harry hesitated, glancing back at the door. "He's going to get killed."

"It's his choice," Draco said. "He hasn't created a life debt, Harry - he didn't definitely and specifically save your life."

Harry shook his head. "Yeah, I can't do it." He pulled the door open and rejoined the fight.

Draco sighed. "Bloody Gryffindors." Still, he followed Harry back into the fray, and they dealt with the remaining eight Death Eaters.

In the aftermath, the three stood among the bodies for a second, catching their breath.

Draco glanced towards the door. "Why hasn't he come out?"

"Chamber's got a Silencing Charm on it," Peter answered. "None of them would dare interrupt him. You didn't have to come back," he added to Harry. "I didn't expect you to."

"Yeah, well, I couldn't exactly …" Harry trailed off, as a shimmer appeared in front of him, solidifying into Gryffindor's sword.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Guess that satisfied Godric."

"Guess so," Harry said, examining the sword. He handed it to Draco. "Hold on to that for me, would you?" He turned to Peter, who held his hands up and gamely handed over his wand.

"I'm not going to argue," he said tiredly. "I've been running for too long. If it's alright, I'm going to transform so you can stun me; it'll be easier on you, that way."

"He's right," Draco said, twirling his wand. "Try and run for it, and I will kill you."

Harry nodded, and Peter transformed once more. This time, however, he stayed where he was on the floor, and Draco stunned him.

"I'll hang on to him, as well," Draco said, picking the rat up. "Ready?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Let's go."

They made their way down the second corridor until they came to another door.

Harry turned to Draco. "Stay here in case any of them get up; remember the plan."

"How do we do this?" Draco whispered.

Harry shrugged. "Don't think it matters. Bet he knows we're here."

In any case, he blew the door open, purely because he knew that Draco wouldn't have.

Sure enough, Voldemort was waiting for them.

"I'm impressed, Potter," he said by way of greeting. "How many people died for you this time?'

Harry pretended to think for a moment. "Well, we only brought the two of us, and we're both here. Tell me, Tom, how does it feel to know that two kids that haven't even graduated yet took out the rest of your Death Eaters?"

Voldemort gave a thin, icy smile. "They'll recover soon enough."

"I don't know," Harry said. "We're not Dumbledore. We were shooting to kill."

"No matter," Voldemort said, raising his wand. "I do not know how you survived in the Forest, but I will not tolerate it again."

"Aren't you even a little bit curious as to why I let you kill me?" Harry asked.

"Not in the slightest." Voldemort threw a curse, and Harry dodged it.

"Well, we have a bit of a problem here, Tom," Harry said, raising his own wand. "These are still brother wands. I mean, I tried borrowing Draco's, but neither of us could use each other's wands."

"That is true," Voldemort conceded. "But I have no intention of …"

Before he could finish, Draco jumped in and threw a curse.

Voldemort deflected it, as they knew he would, and Harry took advantage of his momentary distraction to pull a basilisk fang from within his cloak and expel it towards Voldemort.

Time seemed to slow down as the fang spun through the air; Harry may not have been a Chaser, but his aim was true.

It struck Voldemort point first, embedding itself deep within his chest.

Voldemort screamed and Harry took the opportunity to disarm him, catching the Dark Lord's wand and snapping it with no shortage of glee.

Voldemort collapsed to the ground, scrambling to remove the fang, but Harry summoned that as well, not giving him the chance to use it has a weapon in his last moments.

In any case, the poison was already doing its work.

"Fawkes?" Harry called.

The phoenix appeared in a flash of flame with a trilling song, and came to alight on Harry's shoulder.

"Basilisk venom," Harry said. "Only one cure, and that's phoenix tears. What do you think Fawkes?"

Fawkes sang a short note, that sounded like a huff, and turned his back on Tom Riddle.

"Well, you can't argue with that," Draco said. "Are we taking him with us?"

"Probably should," Harry agreed. "We might be in for a bit of a wait."

But they weren't.

Thirty seconds later, Tom Marvolo Riddle stopped breathing for the last time.

* * *

**May 1st 1998**

"… and then Fawkes brought us back here and …" Harry shrugged. "Here we are."

For a few moments, there was silence through the room. Halfway through the story, they had moved to the living room where it was more comfortable.

"Alright," Addie said after a while. "Which one of us forgot to teach them not to walk into fight where they're outnumbered two to forty?"

"Hey, we won," Draco protested.

"And that was a miracle in itself," Amelia said. "I should contact Scrimgeour - someone needs to clean up the bodies."

"Now Voldemort's dead, the wards should have come down," Harry said.

"Thank you, Harry," Amelia said, getting to her feet. "I'll head into the Ministry and start preparations. With Pettigrew, we'll be able to get Sirius cleared for Dumbledore's trial."

James grimaced at the reminder. He was trying not to look at the cage on the mantlepiece.

"In that case, I'd better make sure I've got some robes," Sirius said, pulling a face.

"I'll take Peter down to the shack," Jen said, picking up the cage. "We can't really keep him in here."

As she left, a strange look crossed Addie's face and she got to her feet and followed Jen out.

With a frown, Hermione kissed Harry on the cheek and followed her stepmother out the door.

Lily ignored the by-play, clinging to her son's hand.

"Mum?" Harry asked. "Are you alright?"

"You could have been killed," Lily whispered. "You are so lucky, Harry. But … it's over. It's finally over."


	10. Wormtail's Tale

**May 1st 1998**

Addie took the floo to Ravenscroft Manor after Jen, and was swiftly followed by Hermione.

"Addie? What's wrong?"

Addie sighed. "Honestly, Hermione, I'm not sure. I just don't think we've got the whole story. Have you read Albus's journal?"

Hermione grimaced. "I have, but … it's not exactly helpful. He used it _as_ a journal; it's just a load of random thoughts all thrown together, he didn't exactly map out his thought process and reasoning. I can use it to come up with questions, but it's not exactly evidence. Why do you ask?"

Addie sat down in one of the armchairs in the reception room. "It's Peter. Nothing about it makes sense."

"In what way?" Hermione asked.

"Well, Harry and Draco were highly unlikely to win that fight," Addie said. "Why would he join what looked like the losing side all of a sudden? For that matter, he he betrayed James and Lily because he was scared, how did no one notice he was so scared if he was also passing information for a year? Did he ever give you a reason for it?"

Hermione thought back to the Shrieking Shack at the end of her third year. "I think he said they would have killed him."

"You think?" Addie prompted. "That sounds like a pretty certain statement."

"Well, he said that 'they would have killed' and then Dad said that he should have died rather than betray his friends," Hermione said slowly. "He never actually said who they would have killed. Plus … Lily said that Peter made some comment about them being warned about how dangerous switching Secret Keeper was. I was focused on the fact that Dumbledore knew about the switch but … why would Peter warn them about that?" She sighed. "Will this come out with Veritaserum?"

"No," Addie said. "The serum doesn't let you volunteer information, and Amelia can only ask yes/no questions in a trial. Dumbledore is slightly different; it's not technically a trial because he hasn't been tried with anything."

"We still need him to agree to Veritaserum though," Hermione said.

"He will," Addie said with certainty. "He'll be convinced he can override it. But what about Peter?"

"Well, we could talk to him first," Hermione suggested. "The trial won't be until tomorrow anyway - and he can't lie to us."

Jen met them at the transportation stone by the back door. "I put him in the interrogation room," she said. "I figured you'd want to talk to him. I want answers too. He's the only one in the building now, but be careful anyway."

Hermione had never actually been inside the shack before, but it was an impressive feat of magical engineering - hundreds of duplicating cells, making the building much bigger on the inside than it appeared from the outside, all warded and silenced so the Death Eaters could not communicate with each other.

Addie showed her to a small room. Inside, Peter was slumped over a table, shackled to the chair, which was nailed to the ground.

Apparently, Jen had forced him human again, but not revived him.

Addie faltered. "Wow, the years have not been kind to him."

"Well, he spent most of them as a rat," Hermione pointed out, taking one of the seats on the other side of the table.

Addie took a deep breath and flicked her wand. "_Ennervate_."

Peter stirred, and she took the seat beside Hermione, tucking her wand away, and observing him with a serene calm she certainly didn't feel.

He sat up, bleary eyes landing on her. "Addie? You're alive?"

His genuine surprise settled something inside her that she didn't know was upset. At least leaving her to rot was _not_ one of the crimes they could pin on someone who had once been a friend.

"Hello Peter," she greeted coolly. "Yes, I am alive. I got back about a year ago. I presume you remember Hermione?"

Peter nodded, his eyes darting towards her for a second. "This isn't the Ministry."

"No," Addie agreed. "Tomorrow, we're taking you to the Ministry, they will give you Veritaserum, you will admit to betraying James and Lily, and to murdering twelve people, and then you're going to Azkaban. Today, you have a chance to tell us your side."

Peter hesitated. "I don't want to make excuses."

"We're not asking for excuses," Addie said sharply. "We're asking for an explanation. You owe us that much."

Peter slumped in his seat. "Yeah, I know. Where do you want me to start?"

Addie folded her arms. "Let's start with when you joined and why?"

"Did you ever meet my parents?" Peter asked.

Addie frowned. "No, I don't think so. Wait … No, that's not right. I met your mother briefly, during Christmas of sixth year."

"She was Muggle-born," Peter said, his eyes fixed on the table. "My father was a pureblood, and he was an arsehole."

It seemed like a ridiculous start to the story, Hermione thought privately. By the sounds of it, Peter was giving them reasons _not_ to join up, rather than the opposite. Still, she said nothing, letting him reach a point she could sense was coming.

"He used to beat her," Peter said hoarsely, "for everything. And I could never stop him. All I could do was help her get to St Mungo's."

"You never said anything," Addie prompted.

Peter laughed humourlessly. "Yeah? Who was I going to tell? The Ministry didn't want to know, because she was Muggle-born; the teachers couldn't do anything; and I couldn't tell James and Sirius - James's mother was dead and Sirius fought off the Cruciatus to stand up to his parents - how was I supposed to admit that all I could do was watch my mother get beaten to the point of death on a weekly basis?!"

"They would have helped you," Addie said. "They wouldn't have judged you."

"Wouldn't they?" Peter asked.

Addie hesitated. "Okay, they went through an arsehole phase; I'll admit that. But you always judged yourself too harshly against them. They weren't exactly the average baseline."

"I know that," Peter admitted. "I realised that when I got my OWL results and I actually did well."

"Of course you did," Addie said, rolling her eyes. "You're not stupid or untalented, and you weren't then. It's just that you had the misfortune of being best friends with three people who were in a league of their own. I do recall someone saying that you 'grew into your Marauder shoes' in sixth year."

Peter managed a weak smile. "I like to think so. Do you remember the October Hogsmeade trip?"

Addie thought back. "Remember it? Yes. Remember it separately to any other Hogsmeade trip? Probably not. I think Remus and Jen snuck off for an actual date, so Sirius didn't spend the entire time bugging _me_, because he was too busy interrupting _them. _I think you four disappeared for the first hour."

"We did," Peter said, a smile appearing on his face. "Convinced Malfoy the Shack was haunted."

Addie grinned. "Did he scream?"

Peter sniggered. "Like a five-year-old girl." The humour slowly bled out of his face. "Then this woman appeared. She was recruiting."

"I remember that," Addie said. "She approached us as well."

"Just like that?" Hermione asked, startled. "Out in public?"

"This was before they started murdering purebloods," Addie explained. "Muggles and Muggle-borns were being killed, but apparently that wasn't a huge concern." She turned back to Peter. "What did she do?"

"It's hard to explain," Peter said. "She did the usual spiel - you're all very talented, we need people like you, so on and so forth. And then she showed us how much better life could be - she pulled up these orbs for each of us. I saw my mum, away from my dad, and healthy and happy …"

"Okay, but that wasn't going to be the outcome," Addie said. "She was Muggle-born."

"I know that," Peter said tiredly. "It's not like I jumped down her throat. But I must have shown something, because I found a card in my pocket that evening with an address on it." He shook his head. "The other three didn't even flinch."

Addie pulled a face. "Well, I think I can guess what Sirius saw, but he'd already refused to join Voldemort under torture. James would have seen his mother and sister, and not even the Dark side can bring back the dead. And Remus would have seen himself without the lycanthropy - and it was obvious they didn't have a cure. So I suppose you were the only one who had the potential to listen."

"Maybe," Peter said morosely. "I don't know why I didn't burn it. It just sat there for about a week … and then St Mungo's sent me a letter."

"Your mother?" Addie guessed.

Peter nodded. "It was really bad this time. She had a fractured eye socket, a broken arm, six broken ribs, a punctured lung …" he shook his head. "He nearly killed her."

"And you sent that letter, didn't you?" Addie guessed.

"It was a knee-jerk reaction," Peter admitted. "I sent the letter and promptly regretted it. I was just .. He kept hurting her, and hurting her and … Dammit, I just wanted him to stop!"

Hermione felt a flare of surprise from her stepmother at the same time as the older woman stiffened beside her. "Okay, I'm going to ask what might be a stupid question. Couldn't your mother divorce him?"

"Not a stupid question, Hermione," Addie answered. "Unfortunately, the law says that a Muggle-born cannot divorce a pureblood without their agreement."

Hermione stared at her. "You're kidding me."

"I'm really not," Addie said.

"That's barbaric," Hermione said flatly.

"I completely agree," Addie said. "But that's how it is right now." She turned back to Peter, apparently over her earlier surprise. "After the Willow incident, were you there when I confronted Sirius?"

Peter frowned. "No. Why?"

"No reason," Addie answered, squeezing Hermione's hand in a 'tell you later' signal. "Did you tell anyone you sent the letter, since you regretted it?"

"No," Peter answered. "I hoped if I did nothing and said nothing, they'd just forget about it." He closed his eyes. "And then, over Christmas, Death Eaters killed my father."

"God, I remember that," Addie murmured.

"I didn't want him dead," Peter whispered. "I wanted him away from Mum; I didn't want him dead."

"So what did you do next?" Hermione asked.

"I went to Dumbledore," Peter answered. "I told him what I'd done, and he said that it was okay; people make mistakes. He said he'd keep Mum safe and he'd put us in a safe house as soon as I graduated, but I turned him down."

Addie frowned. "Why?"

Peter gave her a look that suggested she'd asked a very stupid question. "I'm a Gryffindor, alright? I wasn't going to sit pretty in a safe house while you lot risked your lives."

Hermione's head was spinning. She felt like everything she knew had been turned upside down.

Addie appeared unfazed; if it were't for her bubbling emotions, Hermione would feel somewhat unnerved by it.

"So what did you do instead?" Addie asked.

"I suggested I become a spy," Peter answered. "I was kind of the perfect candidate. Everyone underestimated me, and I could sneak into places and hear things that I hadn't directly been told. Even if You-Know-Who knew about my form, one rat looks just like any other. And because he figured that was all I was good for, he never sent me on raids."

"Never?" Hermione asked.

Peter shook his head. "Never. I never used an Unforgivable, and I never killed anyone. Well, until that day."

"And what about the information you gave to Voldemort?" Hermione prompted.

"I didn't give out any information Dumbledore didn't clear me to leak," Peter said. "I trusted him that it wouldn't endanger anyone. You-Know-Who figured I was too pathetic to know anything important." He sighed. "I found out he knew the first half of the prophecy and warned Dumbledore, and he said he'd take care of it. Then Alice was late and Lily was early, and suddenly there were these two babies that fit the profile."

"Okay," Addie said tiredly. "So if you weren't a loyal Death Eater, how did you get to the point where you sold James and Lily to Voldemort?"

Peter flinched. "You-Know-Who figured I was no good for raids. But some of the other Death Eaters decided that I wasn't going because I was too scared and that I might flip on them."

"Well, they weren't wrong," Addie said.

Peter managed a weak smile. "They started threatening Mandy. I was worried, so I told Dumbledore and he said he'd make sure she was safe."

Hermione frowned. "But I thought Mandy was in Albania when the war ended?"

"She was." Peter shook his head. "I was horrified. I tell Albus she's in danger, and he sends her into the belly of the beast. He insisted she'd be fine, because she was with Hestia and she was an auror, but … I tried to convince her not to go."

Addie snorted. "I bet that went down well."

"We had a huge fight about it," Peter admitted. "She thought I was suggesting she couldn't look after herself."

"Why not just tell her the truth?" Hermione asked.

"I couldn't," Peter muttered. "I just … I couldn't do that to her. It would have broken her heart."

"You're right," Addie said. "Faking your death was definitely easier on her."

Peter flinched.

"So Mandy went to Albania," Hermione said, trying to get back on track. "Was that before or after you became the Secret Keeper?"

"It was two days after," Peter answered. "We switched on the 27th and she left on the 29th."

"Okay, now I know that you assumed Dumbledore had told James and Lily that you were a spy," Hermione said, "which is why you didn't."

Peter shook his head. "I thought they were mad. I mean, who wants their Secret Keeper in You-Know-Who's pocket?"

"No one," Addie answered. "Then again, he never told them. They misunderstood what you were asking."

"Dammit," Peter muttered. "I knew I should've pushed."

"Yeah, well, you didn't," Hermione said, not unkindly. "So tell us what happened on Halloween."

Peter took a deep breath. "Albus called me to Hogwarts. He told me that Hestia had checked in from Albania but that Mandy hadn't. He said she was missing and …" He squeezed his eyes shut, but not before a tear slipped out. "It was my fault. I heard enough; I knew what was happening."

"Why didn't you go to James and Lily?" Addie asked.

Peter finally met her eyes again. "I … don't know. In hindsight, that seems like the obvious thing to do."

Addie held his gaze for a second, then nodded. "Okay, go on." She turned to Hermione and mouthed the word 'compulsion'.

Something uncomfortable was forming in Hermione's chest. She wanted Peter to keep talking. At the same time, she really didn't.

"I started thinking," Peter said, dropping his gaze to the table again. "If I could convince the Death Eaters that I was loyal, they'd let her go."

"So you decided to hand over three people in exchange for one?" Addie asked. "Look, I love Mandy - of course I do - but that's not logical."

"You don't understand," Peter said. "They weren't supposed to be there."

Addie frowned. "You're going to have to explain that, Peter - it was the middle of the night, where else were they supposed to be?"

Peter sighed. "Addie, you know wards, right?"

"Yes," Addie said slowly.

"Then you know that the Fidelius Charm is not exactly ideal as the only protection," Peter answered.

"Well, no, it's not," Addie conceded. "There's too many risks. It only takes for something to happen to the Secret Keeper and the whole thing falls apart."

"Exactly," Peter agreed. "The Fidelius was … the cherry on top, so to speak. It was meant to give James and Lily some peace of mind so they weren't constantly on edge. But there were other wards. First of all, you couldn't apparate into the village. The apparition point was a fifteen minute journey at best and you had to make it on foot. And whether you apparated in, or flew, or walked, if you crossed the wards and you had any connection to the Dark Mark, an alarm would go off in the cottage, at Hogwarts, and at the Ministry."  
Hermione frowned. "Okay, first of all, what about you? Secondly, that would have given them a fifteen minute head-start to escape."

"Exactly," Peter said. "I think Dumbledore altered the wards to let me in. I assumed James knew about it."

"You know what they say about assumptions," Addie said. "What was the second of all?"

Peter nodded. "Second of all, you couldn't apparate, or portkey, or floo into the cottage. I think James could alter the fireplace to allow floo, but only from certain places. However you could apparate, portkey and floo out of the _nursery_. Just to be safe, in case they didn't leave for whatever reason, I told him that they couldn't do any of those things, and that the wards could only be accessed once you were inside the garden walls. That way, I figured he either wouldn't bother altering them, or they'd see him before he could, and they could still get out. And thirdly, I sent James a Patronus warning him." He was on the verge of tears again. "They shouldn't have been there."

Nausea was starting to bubble in Hermione's stomach. Peter's words were starting to paint a very different picture of that night, and she didn't like it.

Addie took her hand under the table, squeezing gently. "Peter, what happened when Sirius found you."

"I panicked," Peter said, sounding as wrung out as Hermione felt. "I knew he was going to kill me - and I couldn't blame him for wanting to - but … I couldn't beat him in a duel, never. So I figured if I could fake my death - he was an auror, they had those powers, he'd get questioned, tell them what happened and everything would be fine. Except … I overcharged the spell. I didn't mean to," he added, his eyes darting between them both beseechingly. "I swear I didn't mean to kill those people! It was an accident."

"I believe you," Addie said, her voice soothing. "But why let Sirius take the fall for it?"

"I didn't think he would," Peter insisted. "By the time I'd found a wizarding family, it had all blown over. I assumed that I'd hear if something had happened, and I didn't, so I just figured they'd questioned him and it was all okay."

"Molly and Arthur would never had spoken about something like that in front of the children," Addie said tiredly. "Didn't you realise, when Ron got to Hogwarts, that Harry should have been with Sirius?"

"It crossed my mind," Peter admitted. "I figured that Albus had made a decision based on Harry's safety and …" He sighed. "It wasn't until Sirius escaped that I realised the truth. Or admitted it, I'm not sure."

"But you still didn't say anything," Addie said.

"Well, he was out by that point," Peter said. "Plus … I really didn't want to face Mandy. After I was, um, exposed, I took the opportunity to run. I was going to send something to the Ministry," he added, "I swear - I just didn't want to lose my soul."

"Sirius nearly lost his soul," Addie said icily.

"That was out of my hands by then," Peter said. "I was Stunned before I even got off the grounds. I woke up in France, with Macnair's brother - he married Phoenix Edwards, remember her?"

"Isabelle Edwards' sister," Addie said, for Hermione's benefit. "And then Isabelle started using Polyjuice?"

"No, they put me under the Imperius," Peter answered. "She was only under Polyjuice for two points - when they went to put Crouch under it, and for the resurrection."

Addie frowned. "If she was so concerned that she was under Polyjuice, why not send you for the resurrection? Crouch, I understand - you can't put someone under the Imperius if you're under it yourself."

"She had to be there," Hermione answered. "The ritual was 'flesh of the servant _willingly_ given'. It's not willing if he's under the Imperius."

"Right," Addie murmured. "Forgot about that. What happened after he returned?"

"I convinced him that I would have helped him if they'd given me half a chance," Peter answered. "I got cursed to high heaven for not trying to find him sooner, but I pulled through it. I started sending letters to Dumbledore again, but he didn't seem to be acting on them, so I stopped and started sending them to Jen instead."

Addie leaned back in her chair, looking tired. "Anything else you want to add?"

Peter hesitated. "I never wanted anyone to get hurt, Addie. I swear."

Addie nodded. "Okay, I think that's all. Hermione?"

"I'm satisfied," Hermione answered.

"Thank you, Peter," Addie said, getting to her feet. "We'll send you to a cell for now and the Ministry can make a decision tomorrow."

Peter nodded. "Thank you."

Addie waved a hand and Peter disappeared, portkeyed back to a cell by the shackles.

Hermione sighed. "He was telling the truth."

"Yeah, I know," Addie said, rubbing her temples. "That opened up a can of worms."

"Why did you ask about the Willow?" Hermione asked.

"What Peter said - about wanting him to stop," Addie answered. "It was almost exactly what Sirius said to me about telling Snape how to get through the tunnel. I wanted to make sure Peter wasn't using that to get under my skin."

"I'll draw up a list of questions for Amelia," Hermione said. "You look like you need a lie-down."

"I'll take you up on that one," Addie said. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day …"


	11. The Trial of a Rat

**May 2nd 1998**

The following morning, Jen sat in the Chief Witch's chair with her head in her hands, seriously questioning her life choices.

The Wizengamot had officially gathered for the investigation into Dumbledore - unlike the trials, this did have a gallery audience; however, it was limited to members of the Press (searched for any Quick-Quotes Quills) and certain invited parties (such as Lily) who might have an interest in the outcome.

However, Amelia had chosen to put Peter's trial through first. They had not even reached the list of questions Hermione had prepared, and the chamber was already in uproar.

Part of her frustration was impatience.

Due to the fact that a number of people were in the Wizengamot, and therefore on the judging panel, it had not been appropriate for Addie or Hermione to tell them what Peter had said, as it was considered evidence in a trial.

Finally, when it appeared that no one was settling down, she banged her gavel loudly. "Ladies and gentlemen, please! We are not schoolchildren!"

The court settled, but Lord Ashford, still reeling from the loss of his daughter, remained on his feet. "Madam Lupin, I feel I must interject."

Jen couldn't help smiling. With Umbridge's trial and conviction (which she took a certain amount of glee in), Amos had taken the opportunity to bring in a new law that completely over-rode and reversed her bigoted werewolf bills. As such, her marriage could now be common knowledge. "Yes, Lord Ashford?"

"It has just been made abundantly clear that the defendant carried out the crimes attributed to Lord Black," Ashford stated, frowning, "and I confess myself that I do not recall an actual trial. Certainly Fudge suggested last summer that he wasn't given one, but I assumed that he misspoke."

"I'm afraid not, Lord Ashford," Jen said. "He was never actually tried in this chamber. I believe that there was a preliminary hearing, at which he was not present, but that was all."

"Then we have committed a grave injustice," Lord Ashford continued, "and it must be rectified immediately."

There was a murmur of agreement, and Jen smiled. "Certainly, Lord Ashford. All those in favour of clearing Lord Black of all charges?"

There was an almost unanimous show of hands. There were a few hold-outs at the back - but then they were all family members of Death Eaters that Sirius had taken out in the first war, so Jen wasn't worried about them.

The gallery audience began applauding and Jen banged her gavel again with a smile. "Motion carried. Scribe, kindly amend the records."

Lord Ashford, however, did not sit down. "Furthermore, Madam Lupin, I feel I must point out that the chamber is now missing a member."

Jen glanced at the empty chair next to Hermione. "Well, I do not know where my brother is. However, I can send a message if …" she raised her voice to be heard over the shouts of agreement "… if the court feels it is appropriate for him to be on the panel for this particular trial."

"If I'm allowed on the panel," James said, "he should be too."

"An excellent point, Lord Potter," Jen said, drawing her wand. She sent a Patronus out the door, and tucked it away again. "We will allow a fifteen minute recess and then continue. Madam Bones, is there anything further you require?"

Amelia skimmed over the list of questions. "No, Madam Lupin. However, there is a point here that I would like to follow up on in more detail, so I have asked an auror to see if Mr Pettigrew's wand is still in our evidence lock-up."

Jen nodded. "Very well, thank you. Can you also send an auror to the lobby to escort Lord Black here, if he arrives?"

Not even ten minutes later, the doors swung open and the two aurors returned, one with a sealed bag, which he handed to Amelia, and one escorting Sirius, already dressed in his Wizengamot robes.

He stopped before the podium, giving Jen a smile that sent her straight back to Hogwarts. "You called, Madam Lupin?"

Jen took a deep breath and tried to keep her voice from wavering. "Lord Black, the Wizengamot has moved to officially clear you of all charges, following the evidence given by Peter Pettigrew. The court recognises that you were never given an official trial after the events, nor were you allowed to put forth evidence to defend yourself. Therefore, the charges have been removed in entirety from your record."

Sirius's eyes looked a little bright, but he nodded with the poise they had been raised with. "Thank you, Madam Lupin. Better late than never."

"Quite," Jen agreed. "As the Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, would you kindly take the oath printed below this podium and take your seat."

Once Sirius was settled in the family seat, Jen turned back to Amelia. "Thank you, Madam Bones; please continue."

Amelia nodded. "I have a number of questions to ask Mr Pettigrew, based on recommendations from Lady Ravenclaw and Lady McKinnon following a conversation with the defendant yesterday. As part of this, I also have a memory of a portion of that discussion, and I have been warned that this may trigger further questions."

"Very well," Jen said. "Carry on."

Amelia turned back to Peter, who was still under the effects of the Veritaserum. "Mr Pettigrew, were you loyal to Voldemort?"

"No."

Jen froze in her seat. Certainly, he hadn't …

"Were you Albus Dumbledore's spy in the Death Eaters?"

"Yes."

"Did you leak any information to Voldemort or the Death Eaters without express permission of Albus Dumbledore, prior to the events of October 31st 1982?"

"No."

Confused murmuring began and Jen banged her gavel. "Ladies and gentlemen, _please_."

"I think now might be a good time," Amelia said, "to view the memory. Would someone please volunteer to verify the memory?"

"I will," Frank said, rising to his feet. He waved his wand over the pensieve and nodded. "The memory is genuine."

"Thank you, Lord Longbottom." Amelia tapped the pensieve with her wand and the image rose into the air to project itself to the court.

_"Did you tell anyone you sent the letter, since you regretted it?"_

Jen closed her eyes, listening to Peter's story. She didn't need to look at any of the other Marauders in the room to know that they were going to be as shaken as she was.

This turned absolutely everything on its head.

Everything she had thought she knew about that Halloween was suddenly, horribly illuminated in a new light.

As the memory sank back into the pensieve, Amelia looked similarly shaken, even though Jen knew she, at least, would have watched it before. "Mr Pettigrew, were the facts you just relayed in that memory to Lady Ravenclaw and Lady McKinnon true to the best of your knowledge?"

"Yes."

Amelia turned to the court. "I now have a few questions for some of the members here - I will not call them as witnesses, as I do not believe they are, but I have a feeling that this will come up again in the next trial to be held in this chamber, so with the court's permission, rather than go through all this twice, I would like to get it all over and done with."

"Any objections?" Jen asked.

The court was silent, apparently as shell-shocked as she felt.

"Carry on, Madam Bones," Jen said.

Amelia nodded. "Lord Potter, can you please confirm if Mr Pettigrew's reflection of the wards is accurate?"

James got to his feet, decidedly grey-faced. "Well, it should have been. However, the alarm never went off, and I know that Lily tried all three methods to get out of the nursery, and none of them worked."

"And when was the last time they were checked?" Amelia asked.

"Well, I checked them that morning," James answered. "I did it every morning and every evening. It must have been about … eight o'clock - is that right, Lily?"

In the viewing gallery, Lily reddened slightly as the entire court turned to look at her, but shook her head. "I would say closer to eight-thirty. We had two children in the house that day; one needed a nappy change and the other had given themselves a banana facial and moved on to repainting the kitchen."

There were a few chuckles, which increased when Hermione said dryly: "Please don't tell them which one I was."

James managed a smile. "Lady Potter is absolutely correct. It was closer to eight-thirty."

"And were the wards working then?" Amelia asked.

"I assume so," James said. "I'm not a warder, but I knew what they were supposed to look like when they were working, and nothing had changed. And then …" he faltered. "Professor Dumbledore came to visit at around eleven, and he checked the wards as well. If there was anything wrong, he didn't say anything to me."

"Thank you, Lord Potter." Amelia turned back to Peter, still under the effects of the Veritaserum. Part of the charms on his chair meant that he wasn't aware of the discussions around the chamber, so he wouldn't start answering questions that weren't meant for him. "Mr Pettigrew, at what time were you summoned to Albus Dumbledore's office on the morning of October 31st 1982?"

"Eight-fifteen am," Peter answered flatly.

Amelia now turned her attention to the section of the chamber held for heads of ministry departments. "Miss Cotswold."

Mandy gave a shaky sigh. "I had a feeling you'd come to me eventually." She rose to her feet. "For the record, Auror Hestia Jones and myself were sent to Albania by Albus Dumbledore as members of the Order of the Phoenix. It was generally believed that was where Lord Voldemort spent most of his time, and our mission was to observe and note any suspicious activity."

"And did anything unusual happen on October 31st 1982?" Amelia asked.

Mandy shook her head. "Not that I can recall. Albania is one hour ahead, so we made our designated check in at nine o'clock in the morning; we both spoke to Albus and confirmed that there had been no activity and we were both fine."

"So at eight o'clock, he knows you're both fine," Amelia concluded. "At eight-fifteen, he tells Mr Pettigrew that you're MIA?"

Mandy nodded. "That seems to be the case, yes."

"Thank you, Miss Cotswold." Amelia turned back to the court. "My Lords and Ladies, for the purposes of ensuring that we have covered all bases, I am going to test Mr Pettigrew's wand." She broke the seal on the evidence bag, and removed the wand.

The room watched as the cast the _Priori Incantatem _spell.

The first spell that emerged was a Blasting Spell, which was to be expected. The second sent a shiver down the spines of almost everyone watching.

A silver rat Patronus scampered around the room, before coming to a stop. The echo of Peter's voice bounced off the walls.

_"Prongs - he's coming! I'll explain later; you've got thirty minutes to get Lily and Harry out of the house!"_

Her face grim, Amelia cancelled the spell and placed the wand back into the evidence bag. "That concludes my part, Madam Lupin."

"Thank you," Jen said. "Lady Ravenclaw, Lady McKinnon, you led the interview yesterday. Is there anything you would like to add?"

Hermione shook her head, but Addie pulled a face. "Only that I did check, and he had been put under a Compulsion Charm not to go and see Lord and Lady Potter following his meeting with Professor Dumbledore."

Jen bit back a curse. "Thank you, Lady McKinnon. Aurors, please administer the antidote."

It took a few minutes for the effect of the Wizengamot to wear off.

"Mr Pettigrew, do you have anything to add in your defence?" Jen asked, managing to keep her voice from wavering.

"No, ma'am," Peter answered quietly.

"In that case," Jen said, "aurors, please return Mr Pettigrew to a holding cell. Gallery, please step outside, so the court can reach a decision. Thank you."

Lily got to her feet, linking arms with Alice as they stepped outside into the antechamber. Ron and Percy - who had come along in case Amelia called them as potential witnesses - took up a position in front of the two women to keep the reporters at bay.

Lily pulled a mirror from her pocket and pretended to check her make-up while she spoke to Alice, while she actually checked in on Harry. He and Draco had been listening to the trial in horror.

Mandy appeared a few seconds later.

"What are you doing here?" Alice asked. "Heads of Departments are voting on this one, right?"

"We've been voting all week," Mandy said tiredly. "I recused myself. The others will be alright, but … I can't do it."

They were called back in after a surprisingly short time.

Jen was standing at her podium, looking more tired than Lily had ever seen her. "It is the decision of the court that Peter Pettigrew is guilty of 12 counts of manslaughter and obstruction of justice. The charge of conspiracy to commit murder has been passed to Lord and Lady Potter for a potential civil case. It has also been considered that the act of framing Lord Black for murder is also a potential civil case, as we agree that the Ministry of Magic should have undertaken a proper investigation. Sentencing will take place in three days time, to give any civil cases time to be considered. Mr Pettigrew has been advised of this. We are now sitting in for the investigation of Albus Dumbledore."

The doors opened and Albus Dumbledore was escorted in by two aurors. He settled in the chair in the middle of the room and gave Jen a very disappointed look over his glasses.

"Madam Lupin, I would like to register my concern that the court feels this is necessary."

"Your concerns are registered," Jen said. "Also, the laws have been overturned, so don't think that using my married name is going to upset the court. For the sake of preventing future arguments, will you agree to the use of Veritaserum?"

"Certainly, Madam Lupin," Dumbledore said. "I have nothing to hide."

Jen smiled. "Thank you."

Amelia administered the Veritaserum personally, and it was immediately evident that Dumbledore had expected something different.

"This is not the usual recipe, is it?" He asked.

"No, it's not," Amelia agreed. "It's a version we rarely use because it's too expensive, but we don't usually need it because the average wizard is unable to override the regular potion. You, however, are not the average wizard."

"I should have been made aware of that," Dumbledore said.

Jen rolled her eyes. "My apologies. I didn't realise I needed to specify that it was Veritaserum that would actually work on you. As you said yourself, you have nothing to hide, so there's nothing to worry about. For the purpose of the court, please state your name."

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."

Under the potion, the direct question caused the tell-tale flat tone of voice.

"The Veritaserum is in effect," Jen said. "Lady Ravenclaw, you have the floor."


	12. Revelations

**May 2nd 1998**

Hermione got to her feet, slipped passed Ginny and made her way down the stairs, clutching a few sheets of parchment. "Thank you, Madam Lupin. My Lords and Ladies, as the heir of Rowena Ravenclaw and the owner of Ravenclaw castle, it was decided that I should put together and present this case. It is not a trial and there are no charges so to speak. The purposes of today is to clarify if there are any charges to be answered."

She cleared her throat. "Additionally, I am also aware that Veritaserum doesn't really like 'why' questions, so with the court's permission, I am going to speculate motives at certain points and ask Professor Dumbledore to confirm whether I am correct."

"Are there any objections to the proceedings?" Jen asked.

No one answered, not even Dumbledore - but then the question hadn't been aimed at him.

"Right then, starting from the beginning," Hermione said. "During the first war, you formed the Order of the Phoenix, prior to the first pureblood murders. Was this because the Ministry didn't seem to be doing anything about it?"

"Yes," Dumbledore answered.

"The Order of the Phoenix lost several members," Hermione continued. "Prior to Halloween 1982, did you have any prior knowledge that may have prevented this?"

"Yes."

Hermione blinked. "Who?"

"The McKinnons," Dumbledore answered. "I suspected Rookwood was a Death Eater so I asked Marlene to approach him for the Order."

"But you didn't warn her," Hermione said. "Did you consider that it would put her family in danger?"

"At least the Ministry would pay attention if purebloods were killed."

As Addie began to cry, Hermione was startled - she had suspected the first from the journal, but not the latter. She opened her mouth before she could stop herself, but bit back her immediate question.

"Lady Ravenclaw," Jen prompted.

"Sorry," Hermione said. "I don't really want to ask my next question with Lady McKinnon in the room."

"Just do it," Addie said shakily. "I know what the question is. And I want the answer."

Hermione sighed. "Did you want Marlene dead?"

"Yes."

Hermione closed her eyes, as there were shouts of outrage around the room. Addie dissolved into tears and Frank left his seat to hug her, since Sirius was on another level. She hadn't considered this previously, and tried to remember anything in the journal that might explain it.

Then, she remembered something.

"Paperwork found at Hogwarts suggested that Marlene had been doing some research," she said, trying not to speak too quickly. "She suggested the exams had been getting easier so that purebloods weren't outperformed by Muggle-borns - is that why you wanted her dead?"

"Yes. No one would benefit from that information."

"Objection!" Someone shouted.

Jen sighed. "Yes, Lord Wilkes?" The fact that he was still on the Wizengamot was a sour note for her - she knew exactly where his loyalties lay, but just couldn't prove it.

"You can't surely be suggesting that Muggle-borns could outperform purebloods?" Wilkes said, disgust dripping from his voice. "It's ridiculous."

"Marlene McKinnon's research is not on trial," Jen said icily, "and it has no bearings except to offer a motive. We can ask the Unspeakables to look into it and see if they can offer any insight. For the time being, we will add conspiracy to commit murder to the list of charges. Your objection is noted and overruled. Please continue Lady Ravenclaw."

Hermione smiled tightly. "Thank you. Professor Dumbledore, the previous Lord Black, Regulus, came to you and advised you of two things: firstly, that Lord Voldemort had used some Dark Magic to try to make himself immortal - I will come back to that later - and secondly, that Lady McKinnon and her sister, Leona, were trapped on a warded island. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"You wiped his memory," Hermione said, "and chose not to go looking for Lady McKinnon so you would not have to reveal the other knowledge he had divulged, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Did you cast the Memory Charm on Madam Lupin?"

"Yes."

"You believed that the prophecy had to be adhered to," Hermione said. "You believed Madam Lupin was likely to be able to kill Voldemort and that wouldn't fit with the prophecy, and that is why you removed her from the equation. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

Jen closed her eyes. **_I hate it when I'm right._**

**_At least it wasn't personal._**

**_How is she?_**

**_Fast asleep. Stop worrying._**

"We all heard testimony from Peter Pettigrew just now," Hermione said, "but just to clarify - was Mr Pettigrew your spy within the Death Eaters?"

"Yes."

"Did any of the information he leaked lead to the deaths of any Order members?"

"No."

Jen breathed a tiny sigh of relief. There was that, at least.

"It is my belief that you lied to him about Miss Cotswold's wellbeing, and then placed a Compulsion Charm on him to keep him from sharing his concerns with Lord and Lady Potter. I believe you did this to manipulate him into divulging their address to Voldemort in order to save her. I believe you then visited their cottage and altered the wards so that they could not escape. This was to test whether Harry Potter or Neville Longbottom was the child of prophecy, is that correct?"

"Yes."  
Lily stifled a sob, and Alice put an arm around her shoulders.

"You then placed a Compulsion Charm on Lord Black," Hermione continued, "to prevent him from coming straight to the Ministry and alerting anyone. You compelled him to track Peter down himself to give yourself time. Did you expect Peter to fake his death?"

"No," Dumbledore admitted. "I expected him to disappear."

"You then gave evidence in this court that Lord Black was the Potters' Secret Keeper when you knew that he was not," Hermione said, keeping her eyes fixed on her notes, in lieu of having to look at her former Headmaster. "You also went to Gringotts to remove their Will but learned they were not dead. You intentionally hid this so you could place Harry with his Muggle relatives so you could isolate him from the Wizarding world, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"You wanted to do this so he was easier to manipulate, right?"

"Yes."

Hermione glanced over at the gallery. "Lady Longbottom doubted Lord Black's guilt. When you learned they were going to push for a trial, you advised them it was safe to come out of hiding. Did you do this in the hopes they would be attacked and therefore be unable to follow through with this?"

"Yes."

Now it was Alice's turn to start crying.

Hermione paused to take a drink of water. "We could probably stop here, but I have more. Were you aware that Harry Potter was being mistreated by his aunt and uncle?"

"Yes."

"Did you believe the wards would protect him?"  
"Yes."

"Small mercies," Jen heard someone mutter from somewhere in the gallery. She did not bother chiding them, not when she agreed with them.

Hermione scanned her notes, trying to clarify whether that was the last of the pre-Hogwarts questions. "Okay, at this point, I have a memory I would like to present to the court. It is actually a combinations of memories of my first year. That way you all understand what I'm talking about." She handed Amelia the first memory.

Amelia performed the perfunctory scan - as she was not presenting the memory, she was allowed to verify it - before pouring it into the Pensive and tapping the side.

_"… The third floor corridor is off limits to all those who do not wish to suffer a most painful death."_

The Pensieve proceeded to play a selection of memories - finding Fluffy, Hagrid letting slip about Flanel, Harry finding the Mirror of Erised, the dead unicorn, the jinxed broom, the obstacles, Quirrell …

Watching it all in a few seconds made Hermione feel quite queasy, and a glance around the room told her that everyone felt the same.

"Okay, I have a list of questions for Professor Dumbledore based on what we've just seen," she said. "Does anyone in the court have any questions for me before we continue?"

One of the members Hermione didn't know stood up, but she recognised his features one of her classmates.

"The court recognises Lord MacMillan," Jen said, more to the scribe than anyone else.

"Thank you, Madam Lupin," he said, in a pompous voice - clearly the apple did not fall far from the tree. "Lady Ravenclaw, am I right in concluding from that memory that you and your friends found a large three-headed dog concealed in Hogwarts behind a door that could be opened with a simple _Alohamora_ Charm?"

"That is correct, yes," Hermione answered. "Obviously, growing up in the Muggle world, I didn't think anything of it at the time."

"That kind of warning given at the opening feast would have been considered an invitation when I was at school," he said. "Do we know how many students went to have a look?"

"Well, not exactly," Hermione admitted, checking her notes. "I sent out letters to as many people as I could, and I got about ninety eight responses. Of those, eighty three admitted to trying to get into the third floor corridor, and just about all of them managed it. All of them report to have been unharmed." She looked up. "The dog was leashed and shackled, so I don't think he would have been able to reach a student at the door. For obvious reasons, I didn't test it."

MacMillan sat down and no one else moved, so Hermione turned back to Dumbledore. "Right, from the top. I believe that you asked Hagrid to remove the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts while he was taking Harry to Diagon Alley so Harry would notice. I also believe that you moved the Stone to Hogwarts in order to test your theory that Voldemort was not dead, is that right?"

"Yes."

"Were you aware that Professor Quirrell was possessed by the spirit of Voldemort?"  
"Yes."

There were cries of horror through the room - mostly from parents who had children at Hogwarts at the time - but Hermione pressed on.

"You said nothing because you also wanted to test that Harry had not turned dark growing up in an unloving home, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"You instructed the teachers to set up protections, but, with the exception of Quirrell, talked them into using spells and enchantments perfectly suited for Harry, Ron, Neville and myself," Hermione continued. "These were tweaked through the year as you learned more about us. Sending Hagrid to collect Harry meant that the two formed a friendship, which meant we could learn how to get past the dog. Additionally, when Harry received a detention, you convinced Hagrid to take us into the Forest to check on an injured unicorn, so that Harry would realise it was Voldemort after the Stone."

She paused for another sip of water. "You had removed Lord Potter's invisibility cloak from the house when you went to check the wards and sent this anonymously to Harry at Christmas, knowing he would go for a nighttime wander. You then guided him to where the Mirror of Erised was, so he knew how it worked, before moving it to the end of the enchantments. The night Quirrell was to attempt to go after the stone, you advised Professor McGonagall that you had received an owl from the Ministry and needed to come here at once, meaning that Harry would feel he had no choice but to stop Voldemort himself. Is that all correct?"

"Yes."

"Moving on to the following year," Hermione said, "were you aware that one of the Dark objects Regulus Black warned you about was in the school until Harry brought it to your attention?"  
"No."

"Well, that's something at least," Jen muttered under her breath.

"Were you aware that Ginny Weasley was possessed?" Hermione asked.

"Yes."

As Ginny turned a dangerous shade of white, Sirius flashed a hand signal to Ron and Percy in the gallery and moved to crouch beside her and give her a hug.

Hermione sighed. "Andromeda Tonks has confirmed that St Mungo's had mandrake restoration draught. Those of us petrified by the basilisk were left to wait until the mandrakes at Hogwarts were matured - was that because you didn't want the Ministry to get involved?"

"Yes."

"Was that so you could test Harry again?"

"Yes."

"Was it annoying when Fawkes refused to take you into the Chamber with him?"

"Yes."

Hermione couldn't help a smirk. "That's something I suppose." She checked her notes. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I only have a few questions left, you'll be pleased to hear. When Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire, you could have made it clear that he did not enter his own name, but you didn't. I believe you did that to create more of a chasm between him and his peers, is that right?"

"Yes."

"Were you aware that Alastor Moody was an imposter?"

"No."

Hermione nodded. She was expecting that one. "The Dark objects Regulus had warned you about - had you gone looking for them?"

"I researched them. I didn't look for them."

"Were you aware of any other ways of removing the Dark object, other than destroying the vessel?"

"Yes."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Did you realise that the fact that Voldemort resurrected his body using Harry's blood would have any side effects?"

"There were no side effects."

Hermione frowned. "How do you know? Did you check?"

"I knew there were no side effects."

"So you didn't need to check," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Did you place a magical block on Harry Potter to keep his power levels low to keep him from getting too powerful?"

"Yes."

"Did you place a magical block on Harry Potter to keep him from learning Occlumency?"

"Yes."

"I think," Hermione said, "that's my questions."

"Thank you, Lady Ravenclaw," Amelia said. "I will administer the antidote in that case."

Hermione shuffled her notes, waiting for the veritaserum's effects to lift. "I assume you have something to say in your defence, Professor."

"The court should know by now," Dumbledore said, "that everything I do is for the greater good."

"What was the greater good about telling Harry to die?" Hermione asked. "You left a memory telling him to let Voldemort kill him!"

"And there was nothing else that could be done," Dumbledore said sadly. "There are extenuating circumstances, which I will not mention as I do not wish to expose that kind of magic to the court. But what's done is done. And I must …"

The doors flew open, and Draco and Harry strode in.

"Sorry we're late," Harry announced. "We had some business to attend to."


	13. Moment of Truth

**May 2nd 1998**

For the second time that morning, the room burst into chaos.

Jen banged her gavel loudly. "Order please! Honestly, Harry, you do know how to make an entrance."

"Thank you," Harry said, turning to Dumbledore, who was staring at him. "What's wrong, Professor? You look like you've seen a ghost."  
"How are you alive?" Dumbledore demanded.

Harry gave him a tight smile. "Sometimes you're wrong. I know, it's horrifying. Lady Ravenclaw, may I?"

"By all means," Hermione said, heading back towards her seat. She crossed Ginny on the stairs as she descended.

Draco stepped forwards to greet her. "Thank you, darling. Can I ask you to take the Malfoy seat by proxy, since I can't sit in both?"

"Certainly," Ginny said, allowing him to escort her to the seat.

"Do you have this under control, Lord Gryffindor?" Draco asked, pulling the chair out for her.

"I think so, Lord Slytherin," Harry answered. "Oh," he added, "Godric's magic accepted me as the heir. Excellent timing, really. With the court's permission, I would like to explain firstly why Professor Dumbledore is so surprised and secondly why he shouldn't be. In short, I would like to tell you about Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Ignoring the confused murmuring, Jen smiled. "Go ahead."

"Tom Marvolo Riddle was the son of a Muggle, Tom Riddle, and the Squib daughter of Marvolo Gaunt," Harry began. "You all probably knew him better as Voldemort. That's right," he added. "The champion of purebloods was a half-blood. But that's beside the point. When he was at Hogwarts, he was prefect and Head Boy, and he learned early on that he was the Heir of Slytherin. He also became obsessed with immortality."

"Harry, I must protest …" Dumbledore began.

"You should have told them this years ago," Harry said sharply. "In his fifth year, he opened the Chamber of Secrets and found the basilisk that Salazar's great-grandson had hidden in there. A girl died, Myrtle Tomlins, at which point the school was going to be closed. So he framed Hagrid. Of course I don't think anyone really believed Hagrid was capable of it, but they certainly didn't suspect Tom. Well, you did," he amended, looking at Dumbledore.

"You just didn't say anything. Tom learned, one way or another, about a particularly nasty piece of Dark Magic. I do actually agree with Professor Dumbledore that this shouldn't be public knowledge. What I will say is that it involves enclosing part of yourself in an object, or a vessel. As long as that vessel remains in tact, you cannot truly die. Riddle created one of these when he was sixteen, using Myrtle's death."

He reached into his cloak and pulled out a small black diary. "This diary was destroyed in my second year when I stabbed it with a basilisk fang; thankfully, the venom is one of the few things that will destroy these objects."

He cleared his throat. "Maybe I should have taken your help," he said to Draco, who smirked, leaning back in his chair.

"You're doing fine; keep going."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Thanks. That summer, he went to confront his father and wound up murdering him and his paternal grandparents, and framed his uncle, Morfin Gaunt, for the crime. He then did some more research about these Dark Objects. You see, it wasn't enough for Riddle to be immortal. He had to be more immortal than anyone else. Someone else had managed six - or, rather, five and their body. So, of course, he decided to aim for seven."

"He returned to his mother's home just before his seventh year," Draco continued, getting to his feet. "His maternal grandfather was on his death bed, and he stole the family signet ring, turning that into the second of the vessels. No one likes a monologue, you know."

Harry pulled a face at him. "Well, thanks for the help." He pulled the ring out of his cloak as well, placing it beside the diary. "That was destroyed last summer by Madam Lupin and Lady McKinnon. Now Riddle didn't just want any objects, he wanted important things. When he was in seventh year, he charmed the Grey Lady - Helena Ravenclaw - into telling him the story of how she ran away with her mother's diadem, and then after Hogwarts he went to work at Borgin and Burkes to see if he could find anymore."

"As luck would have it," Draco said, rejoining him on the floor, "one of the regular customers was a woman named Hepzibah Smith. She had bought a locket that had once belonged to Salazar Slytherin. His mother had pawned it while she was heavily pregnant with him, desperate for money. She only got ten galleons for it, but I would imagine they sold it for a lot more than that."

"He gained Ms Smith's trust," Harry said, "and eventually she showed him the locket. But more than that - she showed him another relic as well - a cup that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. Now, the locket is where we came in last summer. Regulus Black learned about these objects - when Dumbledore wasn't listening, he went looking himself. He managed to retrieve the locket from its hiding place, but it killed him. We located the locket in the family home, and it too was destroyed last summer." He removed the locket from his cloak as well, placing it beside the other two.

"Now, here was where things got tricky," Draco said. "You see, the cup, he gave to Bellatrix Lestrange to keep in her Gringotts vault. Thankfully, the goblins weren't too happy about that when we told them what it was, and it was destroyed inside the vault. Since her death, we have been able to access the vault and remove it."

Harry placed the cup beside the others as well. "Those of you who are keeping count will realise we're now down to two."

There were a few chuckles, breaking the tension in the room.

"Firstly, Rowena's diadem," Harry said. "Well, Riddle returned to Hogwarts later requesting a teaching job. He was turned down, but his real purpose for returning was to hide Rowena's diadem, which he'd found in Albania, where Lady Helena said she'd hidden it. He hid it in a room called the Come-and-Go Room, probably convinced he was the only one who'd ever find it. Joke's on him really. We found the room - and the diadem."

"Lady Ravenclaw was understandably reluctant to destroy it," Draco said. "So she transferred the Dark Magic into a nearby bust and we destroyed that as well. However, we couldn't get the bust into Harry's cloak that easily."

Amid more chuckles, Harry removed the diadem and placed it beside the others. "And then there was one. Riddle intended on using my death to make the last one back when I was a baby, but that didn't go his way. So when he returned, he took the unusual step of turning his familiar into a vessel." He turned to lift the corner of an Invisibility Cloak, draped over a trolley they had pulled in behind them.

He tucked it back so the court could see Nagini's severed head, prompting several horrified cries.

"Killed with Gryffindor's sword," Harry said, with a small bow in Neville's direction. "Imbibed with basilisk venom since my second year. Now all of this should have made Riddle mortal. But there was one thing that we hadn't counted on. When his curse backfired in 1982, it turned me into one of those vessels as well."

There were more shouts through the room, and Jen banged her gavel again. "Order!"

"Professor Dumbledore knew this from the start," Harry said. "He could have removed the Dark Magic, but he decided against it. He decided that it was for the greater good if Voldemort killed me himself. So when he left for America, he emptied his Pensieve and left one memory of him telling Professor Snape that, knowing that if something happened, I'd go there for some kind of help. And I did go out there. I let him hit me with a Killing Curse again."  
"Then how are you still alive?" Dumbledore asked.

"Because you were wrong," Harry answered. "That's why. He used my blood to come back and it created a two-way tie. His curse destroyed that. I could have chosen to go on, but I decided to come back."

"Harry, you haven't been trained," Dumbledore said. "You can't deal with Voldemort by yourself."

"You've changed your tune," Harry said dryly. "A year ago you were telling me the prophecy meant I would have to. And just to correct you - _you_ haven't trained me, because you were raising me to die when it was most convenient. But I have been trained." He pulled the rest of the Invisibility Cloak off with a flourish, revealing Voldemort's dead body. "And I'm very good."

Screams echoed through the room and Jen sighed, banging her gavel again. "Why did you not inherit your mother's tact?"

"Luck of the draw," Harry answered. "Voldemort's dead. You lot can deal with the next one." He turned to Dumbledore. "Let's hear the inevitable argument."

Dumbledore sighed. "It saddens me, Harry, to see how far you have fallen."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. I killed Voldemort, so I must gave gone Dark, right? Well, despite your best efforts to make sure my childhood echoed Tom Riddle's, I happen to have a conscience. I did not enjoy what I did, but apparently I was the only one with the guts or the inclination to do it. But I knew you'd go down this route, so I took that into account."

"Riddle's first victim was Myrtle Tomlins," Draco reminded the court. "She was killed by a basilisk. So we figured using a basilisk fang was poetic."

"At the end of my second year," Harry continued, "I killed the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, but not before it bit me. Riddle forgot that phoenixes have healing tears, because he was too busy gloating. So when I stabbed him, I called Fawkes."

As if on cue, the phoenix appeared in a burst of flame, landing on Harry's shoulder briefly, before soaring off to land on Hermione's chair.

"Fawkes turned his back," Harry said, "and let him die. I gave Tom Riddle exactly the same chance he gave me. So if I'm Dark for killing him, Fawkes is Dark for letting him die."

Jen wasn't sure who started the applause, but she didn't try to stop it - or hesitate to join in.

Harry's turned a little red - proving he at least still possessed his mother's humility, if not her tact.

Draco turned him. "I think this means you win."

"I think so," Harry agreed. He turned to Jen. "Madam Lupin, with Godric's blessing - and my father's - may I take the oath?"

"You may, Lord Gryffindor," Jen said. "And, Lord Slytherin, you still need to as well."

Once they had both sworn in, they headed up to take their seats.

"Look at that," Jen said. "We've got a full house. Professor Dumbledore, do you have anything to say in your defence?"

"I would hope the court would understand that I have everything I have done is for the greater good," Dumbledore said. "After all, I did have a phoenix for …"  
"Fawkes belongs to Hogwarts, Professor," Hermione interrupted, stroking Fawkes's head gently, "not to you. You were never bonded, and he only stuck with you to protect the students."

"Do you have any other line of defence?" Jen asked.

Dumbledore didn't answer, still fixing her with a look of disappointment that she was sure was supposed to make her crumple and back down.

**_Screw that._**

"In that case," Jen announced, "Madam Bones, having heard the evidence, would you please provide me with a list of charges?"

A piece of parchment appeared on her desk and she ran a quick eye down it, before waving her wand over it and allowing the charges to be shown to everyone on the court.

"My Lords and Ladies, please indicate your vote," Jen said. "Is there anyone not in agreement on these charges?"

No one voted, and Jen breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Madam Bones, please proceed."

Amelia cleared her throat. "Albus Dumbledore, you are hereby under arrest for reckless endangerment, conspiracy to commit murder, treason, forgery of legal documents, abuse of power and perjury. The evidence given in today's hearing will be used as evidence for the prosecution. Aurors, please return Mr Dumbledore to the holding cell."

Once he had been led out, Jen sighed. "Before sentencing, Amelia, can you arrange for a Healer to take a look? I'm hoping he's gone senile."


	14. Educational Reviews

**May 2nd 1998**

The people who had been at the Ministry arrived back at Potter Manor visibly drained just after lunchtime.

Remus, who had been listening in via the bond, immediately handed Jen their daughter, and she held her close, fighting back tears of anger and betrayal.

Arabella, who had been waiting with him, was pale-faced. "Remus hasn't been filling me in," she said. "Was it …?"

Mandy crumpled, her knees buckling beneath her as she began to cry. Ron caught her before she could hit the floor and Arabella opened her arms for him to steer her best friend into them.

"You can watch my memory," Hermione offered.

"Later," Arabella said, stroking Mandy's hair. "She needs me right now."

Addie rubbed her eyes. "I've got to go to Hogwarts."

"It can wait, can't it?" Sirius asked.

"I've got a staff meeting," Addie said reluctantly, "and I'd rather tell them myself than have them find out from the papers." She hesitated. "I should probably tell Leona first, shouldn't I?"

"I can do that, if you want," Sirius offered.

Addie managed a weak smile. "Thank you, but I need to do that. I'm her sister."

Leona took it worse than Addie had, but then Addie had already known about Rookwood.

In the end, she had to leave Leona with Sirius in order to go to Hogwarts.

James lent her the family Pensieve, and she shrunk it down for the journey, apparating to outside the gates.

The repairs were going well. The gates were back to their usual impressive selves and the rubble that had littered the grounds had all been removed.

Instead of going straight to the school, Addie took a detour, heading for Hagrid's hut. She had invited him to the staff meeting, but something told her it was better to do this first and in private - she had time.

A very dejected Hagrid met her at the door. "Hello, Headmistress."

Addie wrinkled her nose. "You can still call me Addie, Hagrid; I like to think we're friends."

Hagrid managed a weak smile. "I guess you're here to tell me how this mornin' went?"

"I'm afraid so," Addie said, resizing the Pensieve. "Have you ever used one of these before?"

"No," Hagrid answered. "I seen Professor Dumbledore's, but I never used it."

"Okay then." Addie added the memory. "Just dip a finger into the liquid, and you'll be taken into the memory. I'm going to stay here, because I don't want to watch it again."

Hagrid hesitated.

"You need to see it," Addie said gently. "It's going to be in the papers tomorrow anyway. Do you want to see my memory, or read Skeeter's article?"

"Your memory," Hagrid said. "Least I know that's truthful."

Addie sighed as he entered the memory, sitting down to wait. Her hand settled on her stomach, beginning to show the signs of a bump.

Fang whined from his basket, and she gave a small whistle, patting her thigh. He trotted over and laid his head on her lap, and she smiled, scratching his ears.

"You know he's upset, don't you?" She murmured. "You'll need to look after him for me."

When Hagrid emerged, she immediately shrunk the Pensieve and tucked it back inside her robes. He was shaking, not with tears, she realised, but with anger.

"How could he?! I trusted him!"

"I know," Addie said, patting his arm. "There's a lot of that going around."

"James and Lily set up, Sirius left to rot, your family …" Hagrid suddenly stopped. "Your family. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Addie lied. "A lot of what I heard, we had already guessed, if not outright known. No hugs," she added, a little hastily. "I'll just start crying. And I'm pregnant."

Hagrid gave her a watery smile. "Congratulations! At least there's somethin' good."

Addie managed a smile as well. "I agree. Listen, Hagrid, I know you're upset and angry and rightly so, but we need to talk about Care of Magical Creatures next year."  
Hagrid sniffled. "I know I'm not a very good teacher …"

"On the contrary," Addie said, "I think you're a very good teacher. Lesson planning, however, is another matter. So if you're agreeable, I would like you to continue teaching, but you and I will sit down together before next term and set out a plan, alright?"

Hagrid looked like he was either going to start crying or hug her anyway, so Addie promised to owl him with the meeting date and made her escape (she was running late anyway).

The other teachers were already in her office by the time she got there.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, resizing the Pensieve. "I was just having a quick chat with Hagrid."

"He won't be joining us then," Minerva concluded brusquely. "Neither will Sybil. I doubt she knows what day it is."

Addie shook her head, taking a seat behind the desk. "As you all know, it was Albus's hearing this morning." She cleared her throat. "It was … disturbing, to say the least. Poppy, what was the outcome of your meeting with the Healers?"

"No one here has any Memory Charms, to to speak," Poppy answered grimly. "But most of us have been under mild Compulsion Charms at one point or another. The only exception was Severus, who was Obliviated very recently."

"That one, I knew about," Addie answered.

"You did?" Snape asked.

Addie nodded. "You had a conversation with him that I was certain you would have told me about had you not been. The memory of the hearing is in that Pensieve; I would like you all to watch it, rather than read Skeeter's take tomorrow. Kady?" She called, as her colleagues entered the memory. "Can you get us some hot chocolate please?"

Kady curtsied. "Of course, Headmistress. Is you wanting anything else for your meeting?"

Addie sighed. "I don't suppose there's any firewhiskey in the building, is there?"

Kady fixed her with a surprisingly stern look. "Headmistress should not be having firewhiskey with babies."

Addie chuckled. "Not for me, Kady. Although I could use some. I meant for the others. They're watching something quite distressing at the moment."

Kady thought for a moment. "There is no firewhiskey, headmistress. But Kady be making special hot chocolate for shock Kady's mother used to make - it is being safe for the babies as well."

Addie beamed at her. "Oh, thank you, Kady. That would be wonderful."

The mugs appeared on her desk just in time for the others to emerge, most of them with tear-stained faces.

"Help yourselves to a drink," Addie said, taking her own. "Kady says it's doctored hot chocolate for shock that I can actually have." She took a sip and closed her eyes in sheer bliss.

Hot chocolate always had a special effect, but this seemed to have the warming effect of Butterbeer mixed into it. It seeped into her veins and slowly spread through her entire body.

"Do we need to give you some time alone with your drink?" Snape asked.

Addie pulled a face. "I've had a very stressful morning." She set her mug down. "Are you all alright?"

Minerva shook her head, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. "I just can't believe it. I mean, I believe it, but … Did you know?"

"We had guessed most of it," Addie answered, wrapping her hands around her mug. "The bit about my parents was a nasty surprise. I'm okay," she added, when it looked like Aurora would get up to comfort her. "Well, I'm not," she amended, "but I can fall apart when I get home."

"He must be senile," Pomona said. "He must be."

"I hope so," Addie said. "He's either senile or he is pure evil. Now the reason I called the meeting was not to discuss Albus, but the school. There are a few things that need to be addressed."

"I think there are quite a few actually," Minerva said.

"Absolutely," Addie agreed. "But I don't want to be that person that turns up and immediately changes everything. Change is something best received in small doses, I think. So right now, I want to focus on what _needs_ to change immediately."

"That's probably a good idea," Filius said. "What are you thinking?"

Addie pulled a list from her pocket. "Okay, so first of all, I'd like to see some kind of consensus about what warrants points being given or taken. Some of you award one point for a correct answer, some of you give ten, some don't give anything. If we can agree a system, firstly the House Cup will be fairer and secondly we won't see the current belief system that some teachers are biased against certain houses." She glanced around to see they were all staring at her. "I'm not saying you need to do it right now, this second. But some time before September would be nice."

"That's brilliant," Aurora said faintly. "Why haven't we thought of that before?"

Addie shrugged. "I don't know. I thought about it when I first got here, since no one actually gave me any training. I just winged it." She cleared her throat, scanning the list. "Sorry, this isn't in any order and I'm just picking out the ones to address now. Oh, History of Magic."

"What's wrong with it?" Minerva asked. "It's an important lesson."

Addie looked up again to give her an incredulous stare. "Are you kidding me? Was it just me and Severus who were taught by Binns?"

Aurora and Septima, the only two young enough to have possibly been in his class, both nodded - they had both been Beauxbatons students, for various reasons.

"History of Magic, in its current form, is glorified nap-time," Addie said bluntly. "The only people who pass the course are the ones who have private tuition at home, or have very good friends who have private tuition at home. There is absolutely no point."

"You took History of Magic at NEWT level," Minerva pointed out.

"Yes," Addie agreed. "And I used it as glorified nap-time, since Lily stressed too much to use our actual spare lessons for that purpose. Severus, you agree, right?"

"I do," Severus said, a hint of reluctance in his voice. "And in addition to being a spectacularly boring teacher, I don't recall any lesson that wasn't about goblin rebellions."

"That too," Addie agreed. "I don't want to move Binns from the castle - he's welcome to stay. We can just move the classroom next door - he'll keep teaching anyway, even to an empty room. If any students want to attend a lecture of his, they can if they want."

Minerva frowned. "I'm sure it can't be that bad."

"Minerva, I am willing to bet," Addie said, "that if you go to his classroom right now, he will be there, telling an empty room about goblin rebellions. Next point: Divination." She smiled at Minerva. "You'll agree with me on that one."

"Of course," Minerva said. "But you're not going to make her leave, are you?"  
"Absolutely not," Addie said immediately. "I'm not even sure she could function in the real world. She can stay and teach students with Sight, but is there any point in students without Sight taking the class in its current form?"

"Absolutely none," Aurora said, with feeling. "Her exams are based on practical, but the OWL and NEWT are based on theory. Have we had any NEWT students since we hired her?"

Minerva thought for a second. "I don't believe so. Speaking of the OWL and NEWT exams, Addie, do you know what your mother's research was?"

"No," Addie said. "I'm going to look into it. If she was right, and I never knew her not to be, then we need to approach it gradually, or we'll be setting students up to fail. So we'll find another teacher for Divination as it should be. Muggle Studies …" she took a deep breath, Charity's smile flashing in her mind's eye. "I'm looking. We need to do something about the class anyway - it was a century out of date when I was at school."

"No, it wasn't," Pomona said, disbelievingly.

"When Lily read my text book, she actually fell of the sofa because she was laughing so hard," Addie said. "Not to mention, I went out into the Muggle world last summer. We teach it like they're another species, not a different culture. I'd quite like to have a chat with some of our Muggle-born students and their parents as well, to see if we can help the integration, but that can wait until summer." She checked her list once more and tucked it away. "I think that's all of my urgent things. Anyone else?"

"Have the OWL and NEWT exams been rescheduled?" Filius asked.

"They have," Addie said. "Students will be asked to report to the Leaky Cauldron a week after the end of term, from where they will be escorted to the Ministry. They've arranged everything."

"And what about the Ministerial elections," Pomona asked. "Can you tell us anything?"  
"I know nothing," Addie said with a smile. "I can tell you that someone nominated James Potter …"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Severus groaned. "I'm emigrating."  
Addie laughed. "Well, you'll be pleased to know he rejected the nomination. He's still laughing about it."

"I wonder who nominated him," Minerva said. "He's been out of the picture for sixteen years."

"My money's on Jen," Addie said. "She did swear to get him back for nominating her for Chief Witch. The voting's not for another three days, but as far as I know, there are only two nominations - Amelia Bones and some guy I've never heard of who I assume is all the Dark side have left. If that stays the same, at least there'll only be one round of votes."

"Amelia will be a wonderful Minister," Minerva said warmly. "She's who we could have done with the last time."  
"I agree," Addie said. "Are there any other issues we need to discuss today? If not, we'll return to the regular staff meeting scheduling of once a fortnight."

The others filed out to digest the fall-out of the investigation and Addie loaded her quill to mark the items on her list that she had discussed with them.

It was a few moments, before she realised Snape hadn't moved.

"Something wrong, Severus?"

"I would like to take this opportunity to formerly tender my resignation."

Addie sighed. "I knew you were going to do that. I'm not that bad, am I?"  
"You're not the worst person to be headmistress," Snape admitted grudgingly. "But it has nothing to do with you. I never wanted to be a teacher; Albus did not leave me with any option. Enough is enough."  
Addie sighed, setting down her quill. "Look, I would honestly love to accept your resignation. Unfortunately, Potions Masters are few and far between and I don't have another one to hand. So can you at least stay long enough for me to find someone?"

"Very well," Snape said reluctantly. "Have you considered Draco?"

"Draco?" Addie asked, startled. "I hadn't actually. Then again, I hadn't started thinking about it."

"He has the talent to become a Potions Master," Snape said. "He also has an understanding behind the ingredients that most of my students don't have."

"Okay," Addie said, "but he doesn't graduate for another year. And he might not even want to teach."

"Speak to him," Snape said. "If he does - and if you can find someone to teach first through fifth year - I will stay for one year. Just one."

Addie grimaced. Mandy would do it, she knew, if she could wrangle her away from the Ministry for nine months. "Just one."  
"I know who you're planning to get in for History of Magic," Snape said flatly. "I refuse to stay longer."

"Fair enough," Addie said. "I accept your terms. I haven't actually asked him yet though."


	15. Mothers and Sons

**May 2nd 1998**

"No."

"Sirius …" Addie sighed.

"Absolutely not." Sirius took one look at her expression and closed his eyes. "Don't give me that look. No."

"You promised," Addie said.

"I did not …" Sirius turned to Hermione, who was watching them with some amusement, which was a nice change from her earlier despondent attitude. "Did I promise? Did you hear me promise?"

Hermione laughed, wiping away the last of her tears. When Addie had left for Hogwarts and Sirius had stayed to comfort Leona, she had slipped away to mourn the life she could have had. Neither of her parents had let her stay in that state for too long though. "I don't think so."

"Well, of course not, Hermione wasn't there," Addie said. "I told you you'd make a great teacher, and you told me that you'd teach when I became Headmistress."

Sirius opened and closed his mouth a few times. "Well, I didn't …"

"You could spend the whole year with us, Dad," Hermione said brightly.

"Well …"

"Not to mention," Addie said, "I'm due in the middle of November. If you were teaching, you'd be right there in the castle with me."

Sirius sighed. "I always knew you two would gang up on me."  
"Obviously," Addie said with a smirk. "But you love us."

Sirius cracked a smile. "Yeah, I know. Alright, I'll take the job. I just hope you know what you've let yourself in for."

* * *

**May 5th 1998**

Sirius and the Potters had been given three days to decide whether they wanted to press civil charges against Peter.

James and Lily had an easy decision of it, but Sirius found it harder. He spent many hours mulling over the situation.

In the end, it was Hermione who finally put it into words. "Dad, if your gut response isn't a yes, then surely it's a no."

When Peter was brought back to the chamber for sentencing, James and Sirius voiced their decisions for the first time.

James stood first. "Lady Potter and I are in agreement. Upon hearing the evidence, we agree that the actions taken were to protect an innocent victim and that all efforts were made to ensure our safety. Furthermore, we are satisfied that, without Albus Dumbledore, that night would never happen. We do not wish to press charge."

"Thank you Lord Potter," Jen said. "Scribe, please amend the records. Lord Black?"

Sirius rose to his feet. "Had you asked me a year ago, I would have wanted to press charges. However, the evidence makes it clear that framing me for murder was not the intended outcome. Could he have spoken up sooner? Yes. Was he burying his head in the sand a bit? Probably. Has be been a colossal idiot? Absolutely."

A few people chuckled, and even Peter gave a sheepish smile.

"Then again," Sirius continued, "I've been a colossal idiot a few times in the past as well."

"Don't sell yourself short," James said. "It was more than a few times."

Now real laughter broke out, and Jen banged her gavel, unable to help her own giggles. "Merlin help me, I'd forgotten the difficulty of dealing with you two. Behave yourselves please, and Lord Black, please get to the point."

"Right." Sirius cleared his throat. "Being an idiot is not a malicious act, and there is still sentencing to be made for today. I do not wish to press charges."

Jen raised an eyebrow, but accepted his decision. "Scribe, please amend the records. In that case, we can get it over and done with quickly. Mr Pettigrew, for obstruction of justice and twelve counts of manslaughter, you are sentenced to twelve years in Azkaban."

It did not escape her notice that it was the same sentence that Sirius had served before his escape.

Sometimes poetic justice was unintentional.

* * *

**May 6th 1998**

The day after the hearing, Lily was looking for Harry. She knew he wasn't with Hermione, because she was with Addie, shopping for the nursery.

Once she had checked all the obvious places, she finally went to the library, and found him hidden in the back with a Defence textbook.

"I'd have thought you'd have had enough of that," Lily said with a smile, coming to sit beside him. "You know your sixth year exams are cancelled."

"I know," Harry said, closing the book. "I've actually only done three sets of exams since I started - first, third and fifth. It's actually kind of fitting the sixth year were cancelled as well."

Lily shook her head. "Honestly, it's amazing how well you've done at school under those circumstances."

Harry turned a little red. "I was just doing a bit of extra research. I know that Addie's planning on teaching Defence again this year, but she can't really do both - I was thinking of applying for the job when I graduate."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Lily said immediately. "I heard about the DA - by all accounts, you're a great teacher."

She was gratified to see that this did _not_ evoke a blush - he was clearly aware of his ability in this sector. "Thanks Mum. Were you looking for me?"

"I was actually,' Lily admitted. "I wanted to ask you about my sister."

If she hadn't been watching for it, she might have missed the way Harry stiffened a little.

"You weren't supposed to go to her," she said gently. "James and I thought we had ensured that."

"I know," Harry said. "It wasn't that bad."

"Jen did tell us quite a bit, Harry," Lily said. "It sounds bad."

"She didn't love me," Harry admitted. "I wouldn't expect her to be nice."

"I would have," Lily said. "I knew she wouldn't be, but I would like to think that she would at least treat a child with kindness. Harry … Sweetheart, can you please look at me?"

Harry hesitated, but raised his gaze to hers.

Lily smiled sadly. "I know you don't want to talk about it, sweetheart. But I do need to ask - did they ever spend any money on you?"

Harry thought about it - which answered the question on its own. "They took my to the zoo once on Dudley's birthday. But that was because they didn't trust me enough to leave me at home on my own. I guess they must have done when I was really little, but I don't remember. I only ever wore Dudley's leftovers and I ate what was left when they'd finished."

"What if there wasn't anything left?" Lily asked.

Harry shrugged. "Then I didn't eat. Jen fed me most of the time. Does it matter anymore?"

"Actually, yes," Lily said. "You see, James and I set up more than just a Will at the bank. Whoever took custody of you, if we were unable to do so, would get a monthly stipend to pay for your care - raising a child is expensive, after all. We've checked with Gringotts and that, at least, was adhered to, and it definitely went to them."

Harry gave a humourless chuckle. "And they complained how much it cost them to keep me. Wouldn't Jen have picked that up when she took me to the bank?"

"Probably not," Lily answered. "It wasn't an unexpected outgoing, so it wouldn't have been flagged as a concern. We'll get the lawyers involved and get the money back, with interest."

Harry nodded. "Was it a lot?"

Lily touched his hand gently. "That's not the point, Harry. I wouldn't begrudge you a single Knut. I do begrudge the fact that we gave it to them to help them take care of you, and they didn't spend a penny of it _on you_. Quite frankly, I am done with giving Petunia a free pass just because she's my sister."

At that moment, the front door opened and closed, but with no signal of who had entered the house, which was unusual.

Lily frowned, and cast a quick spell to check the wards, which had the benefit of also telling her who had entered the house. "George?" She called, getting to her feet. "Is everything okay?"

She didn't get an answer and she wasn't surprised when Harry followed her out of the library.

They found George still in the entrance hall, a blank look on his face.

"George?" Lily repeated gently. "I thought you were at work."

George blinked, as though he'd only just seen her. "Hi Lily. I'm really sorry … I wasn't sure where else to go."

"It's alright," Lily said soothingly, taking his arm. "Why don't we come and sit down? Harry," she said in an undertone. "Run and find your father, would you?"

Harry nodded, darting off.

"Come on," Lily said, tugging him in the direction of the family room. "Let's sit down. What happened?"

"Couldn't go to Ravenscroft," George murmured. "Can't tell Fred."

"Fred's still unconscious, sweetheart," Lily said, as they sat down. "George, can you tell me what happened?"

"Can't tell Fred," George repeated.

"Dad's just coming," Harry said, jogging back in. "What's going on?"

"He's in shock," Lily answered. "Was there anyone else working with him?"

"I think Alicia was there today," Harry answered. "I can go and find her."

Before Lily could response, and as if on cue, the front door opened and closed again.

"Mr and Mrs Potter?" Alicia's voice called. "Is George here?"

Lily sighed in relief. "In here, Alicia."

Alicia hurried in. "Oh, thank goodness. I've contacted the aurors but he disapparated while my back was turned."

"Aurors?" Lily asked sharply. "What happened? I can't get a word out of him."

"It's just awful," Alicia said. "There was a fire at the shop."

"That can't be too bad," Harry said. "It must have been under control fairly quickly, right?"

"Normally, yes," Alicia said. "But there were five different ignition points inside, and we'd just evacuated everyone to deal with it, when someone threw a curse at the shop. The aurors are still trying to put it out now."

"So it wasn't an accident," Lily concluded grimly. "It was arson."


	16. Unravelling

**May 6th 1998**

Harry stared at Alicia in shock. "Are you serious? Was anyone hurt?"

"All of the customers got out okay, thankfully," Alicia answered. "We'd only just opened so we weren't that busy."

"James!" Lily called, hearing the back door open. "Get in here!"

"Last time you yelled that, there'd been a mass murder," James said, appearing in the doorway. "What happened?"

"The twins' shop has been burned down," Lily told him. "It sounds like Fiendfyre if the aurors are still trying to extinguish it."

"They said it wasn't quite that bad," Alicia said, clinging to her boyfriend's hand. "Thankfully, they're more safety conscious than anyone gives them credit for. They had wards all over the place, so the fire didn't spread to the apartment upstairs and the fire didn't spread to the neighbours either."

"Can't tell Fred," George said again.

"Sweetheart, Fred's still unconscious," Lily said gently.

James cast a Patronus and sent it to find Sirius and Remus. "George. George, buddy, listen to me. We will make sure that you can rebuild, alright? You've still got the shop in Hogsmeade; you can keep going."

"Summer's coming up," George said hoarsely. "Diagon Alley would take most of the traffic."

The floo chimed and Sirius and Remus came tumbling out in quick succession.

"Merlin, James, what did you tell them?" Lily asked, startled by the worry on their faces.

"I may have been a bit too abrupt," James admitted. "Sorry."

The colour began to seep back into Sirius's face. "You git. You … George?"

"We're going to Diagon Alley," James told them. "The shop's on fire; we're going to go and see what we can do."

Sirius cursed, but clapped George on the shoulder. "Hang in there, mate."

George managed a weak smile. "Thanks, Padfoot."

"I'll get you some hot chocolate," Lily said, patting his arm, "and a Pepper-Up Potion; you look like you need it."

She was only half surprised when Alicia followed her.

"Mrs Potter, I'm worried," she said in a low voice.

"Alicia, please call me Lily," Lily said. "George is family, which makes you family. What's worrying you?"

"I don't think it's Death Eaters," Alicia said. "They wouldn't have any reason to go after the shop. But … there's no one that hates the shop like Mrs Weasley does."

* * *

"What do you think?" Lily asked.

Jen pursed her lips, her eyes glancing over to Fred's unconscious form, but didn't answer.

"A mother wouldn't do that to her sons," Addie said. "Would she?"

The three women were gathered at Ravenscroft Manor at Fred's bedside. George had finally agreed to get some rest, but only if someone was there with Fred to break the news to him if he woke up.

With James, Sirius and Remus still assessing the damage, Lily had jumped at the chance to floo over, and to discuss the matter with her friends.

"She's losing it," Jen said finally. "We've known that for a while."

The door to Fred's room opened and Percy stepped in, faltering when he saw them. "Oh, sorry …"

"Don't leave on our account," Jen said with a smile. "We're just keeping Fred company and gossiping. Relax," she added when his eyes darted towards Serenity. "Her head's blocking everything."

Percy gave a nervous smile and moved to the empty seat. "Did you say something about someone losing it?"

The three women glanced at each other.

"Percy," Addie said, "I don't know if you've noticed, but …"

"Mum's acting erratically," Percy finished heavily. "Yeah, I had noticed. She never even mentioned me leaving. I spoke to Dad and apologised, but Mum won't even talk about it. Dad agrees she needs to speak to someone, but Mum just insists that she's fine." He hesitated. "This morning, she wasn't home when I got up and when she got back, she smelled of smoke of all things." He looked around at the three of them, reading the worry on their faces. "What?"

"I'll go and speak to her," Addie said, standing. "I might have an idea."

Jen nodded. "I'll finish feeding Serenity then go to Ministry to get Arthur. I think we all need to get together and talk about the situation. Maybe if we all give Arthur what we've seen, he might take action."

Addie left the other two to explain to Percy what had happened, and hurried downstairs to take the transport stone to the apparition point.

The idea was starting to take hold in her mind; if it worked, it would be brilliant.

If it didn't …

Well, best not think abut that.

Molly met her at the door with a smile and no signs that anything was wrong. She puttered around the kitchen, making tea, while Addie sat at the kitchen table, nibbling on a ginger biscuit, or trying to, anyway.

Percy was right - the smell of smoke was overwhelming.

"What brings you here, Addie?" Molly asked, placing the teapot on the table. "I would have thought you'd have classes."

Classes were still cancelled to help with rebuilding, but if Addie was right, Molly would have blocked that fact from her mind.

"Well, I wanted to come and speak to you," Addie answered. "I don't know if you've heard, but I'm expecting twins in November."

Molly beamed at her. "Oh, how wonderful!"

Addie smiled. "Thank you. I figured you had some experience in that area."

"Oh, I'm sure yours will be better behaved than my two," Molly said, just a hint of annoyance entering her voice.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Addie muttered under her breath. Aloud, she said, "What's that smell? It smells like something's burning."

Molly didn't even glance towards the oven. "I had to do something, Addie."

"About the shop?" Addie asked.

"They've got it out of their system," Molly said, taking a sip of tea. "It's time for them to get a proper job now. While you're here," she added, holding up two fabric swatches, "which do you think?"

Addie frowned, thrown off by the sudden change in topic. "For what?"

"The wedding," Molly answered. "I'm trying to pick napkins."

They both looked the same colour to Addie, a kind of pinkish cream. "Erm … the one on the right?"

Molly nodded. "Yes, that's what I thought. The other one would clash horribly with Ginny's hair."

Addie set her teacup down. "Has Ginny given an opinion?"

"Ginny's refusing to discuss it," Molly said, a little disapprovingly. "I know the wedding's not for a few years, but she's only got two summers to plan it. And Harry, bless his heart, won't have an inkling."

"Molly," Addie said gently. "You know your children are worried about you."

"I'm fine," Molly said, rolling her eyes. "I really don't understand what's got them all so shaken up. I blame Jen, you know."

That explained the number of Howlers, and the fact that Lily hadn't had any.

"Well, I'm on your side," Addie said. "There's nothing wrong with wanting the best for your children."

"Thank you," Molly said. "At least someone understands."

Addie smiled at her. "I might have an idea to make the children feel better."

As she expected, taking that approach immediately got Molly onside. "Thank goodness - what is it?"

"Well, you know I'm a natural Legilimens," Addie said. "That's how I could help Frank and Alice. What if I take a look, and then I can tell your children that you're okay."

Molly hesitated. "You could just tell them you did."

"I could," Addie conceded. "But Hermione's the same and she'd know I was lying."

Molly was silent for a few seconds, and Addie waited, hiding her nerves in her tea.

If Molly did not agree, there would be no choice but to persuade Arthur to invoke his Head of House position to force her to get medical care - a decision she was sure would break his heart.

"Alright," Molly said finally. "Do you need me to do anything?"

"Not at all," Addie said, setting her teacup to one side. "We don't even need to make eye contact, which is good, because that's the bit I get the giggles with."

Molly cracked a smile. "I'm not surprised."

Addie took her hands across the table. "Okay, take a deep breath for me and just relax." She closed her eyes, plunging into Molly's mind.

Entering another person's mind was the strangest thing - Addie had no idea if it was the same for those who weren't naturals, but she really did not enjoy it.

As a result, Molly's was probably only the fourth or fifth mind she had entered.

She flew past thoughts and feelings, all of the outer areas of the mind, before landing with a thud in Professor McGonagall's office at Hogwarts.

Molly and Arthur were setting in front of her desk, both white-faced with fear.

_"I'm so sorry," _Minerva was saying. _"We're trying to pull together a team to locate the Chamber, but Ginny's chances really don't look good."_

This must have been the day Ginny went missing, Addie realised, and she suddenly noticed a strange mist floating into the office, like she was watching the memory through a haze. She followed it, through Molly's memories, until she ended up in the Hogwarts infirmary.

Hermione was sitting with Padfoot's head on her lap, her eyes fixed on her hand scratching his ears while she told Molly and several of her children that Voldemort had returned.

The mist began to get thicker, until Addie could barely see.

Blinking, she withdrew from Molly's mind, returning to the kitchen at The Burrow.

Molly was looking at her with concern. "Did you find something?"

Addie hesitated. "It's probably nothing."

"But it might not be," Molly said.

"There's a really strange mist," Addie said slowly. "It appeared when Ginny disappeared in her first year and settled properly when Voldemort returned, probably because you couldn't deal with what was happening. I don't think it's doing anything, but it could be … affecting your judgement."

"Get rid of it then please," Molly said. "I don't need it anymore."

Addie hesitated - she wasn't entirely sure what would happen if she did, and she was certain that Molly wasn't really in a state to make an informed decision on the matter.

At the same time, this was almost certainly the only opportunity she would have. She stepped back into Molly's mind, took hold of the mist, and pulled.


	17. Bridging Gaps

**May 6th 1998**

"Arthur, you need to do something," Jen said, as they stepped through the floo to Ravenscroft Manor.

"I'm not sure what I can do," Arthur said. "Short of forcing her to go to St Mungo's - and there's no guarantee she'd do it. She's not hurting anyone."

"Dad," Bill interrupted before Jen could. "Open your eyes! She's trying to set me up with coworkers even though I'm engaged, she's been so horrible to Katherine that Charlie's moved out, she's planning Harry and Ginny's wedding, and now she's set fire to the twins' shop."

"We don't know that for certain," Arthur said, although he didn't sound sure. "Wait, Katherine?"

Charlie snorted. "Told you she wouldn't have said anything to Dad," he said, half to his brother, half to his wife. "Dad, this is Katherine, your daughter-in-law."

"We do want to have a proper wedding," Katherine said hastily. "It's just we thought I was dying."

Arthur looked delighted. "That's wonderful! Well, not that you thought you were dying, but - Charlie, you should have said!"

"Well, when I did, Mum screamed for the house to hear that I'd married a Dark witch and she wasn't having it," Charlie said.

"Oh." Arthur came over to shake Katherine's hand heartily. "It's lovely to meet you, my dear; I am so sorry about Molly."

Katherine gave a shaky smile. "Thank you."

The floo chimed, and Addie stepped through, looking exhausted. "Oh good, you're all here."

"How did it go?" Lily asked. "Did you speak to Molly?"

"I did," Addie said heavily. "I've just got back from St Mungo's."

Arthur paled. "She agreed to go?"

"Not exactly," Addie admitted. "I convinced her to let me take a look. I found the problem - she told me to remove it - the thing is … it kind of … unravelled a lot and she had another breakdown. The mind healers are the best people to help right now."

"So what was wrong?" Percy asked anxiously.

"Basically, when Ginny went missing in her first year, she couldn't cope," Addie explained. "Understandable, really, When we experience things like that, our minds sometimes do things to protect themselves. The thing is, Molly's never went away, which is why she never wanted to hear about what happened."

"If we don't talk about it, it wasn't real," Jen murmured.

"Exactly," Addie said. "Then when Voldemort came back, it happened again. She built up a fantasy world to cope with the real one. Again, not unusual, but she retreated so far into hers that she couldn't find her way out again. But the more time passed, the more the real world clashed with the fantasy one - it wasn't just the war, or lack thereof anymore. And that started undermining her fantasy world and it started to collapse. Hence the breakdown." She looked directly at Arthur. "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to make things worse."

"You haven't," Arthur told her sadly. "Thank you for getting Molly to a place where she accepts that she needs help."

"The Healers say it might be a while," Addie warned. "It's not going to be overnight."

"Can we visit her?" Bill asked.

"Tomorrow," Addie answered. "I did ask, because I knew you'd want to know. They said to let them work today, and she should be okay for visitors tomorrow."

"In the meantime," Jen said, "I have some good news. Thank you Winky."

No one had even noticed Winky appear, but Jen now had everyone's attention all the same.

Jen smiled. "There's someone else who probably could do with some visitors."

George leapt to his feet. "Fred's awake!"

* * *

**July 2nd 1998**

Hogwarts was empty again.

The summer holidays had officially started and, thankfully, the repairs were more or less finished.

Amelia - now the new Minister of Magic - had sent a team of Ministry workers and volunteers to help, which had seriously sped up the process.

Now Addie was back at the castle for another staff meeting, this one in the actual staff-room, rather than her office.

"Good morning everyone," she greeted.

"Good morning, Addie," Minerva greeted. "How's Molly doing?"

"Much better," Addie answered. "She's knitting a lot. I don't think she quite knows how to apologise to people, so she's making jumpers and baby blankets left, right and centre. Although James managed to get the twins' shop back up and running, just in time for summer."

"Wonderful," Snape muttered.

Addie smiled. "Don't lie, Severus," she said. "You love them really."

"The only thing I have ever applauded those two for was the trouble they caused Umbridge two years ago."

Filius smiled. "That was amazing."

Addie chuckled. "Well, she's in Azkaban now."

"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Minerva said. "Now are we all set up for next year?"

"We should be," Addie said. "I'm still looking for a Muggle Studies teacher, but I have a meeting with Penelope Clearwater next week that I'm quite hopeful about. Severus, I've managed to get Mandy for a year, but she can only teach first through fourth due to Ministry commitments; can you take the OWL students as well please?"

Severus sighed. "I suppose so. The upcoming fifth years are mostly not too bad."

"Thank you," Addie said. "I've spoken to Draco - he's really keen on the idea, so maybe you could speak to him about it as well?"

Severus nodded. "I'll make sure to."

"I'm going to carry on teaching Defence for the next year," Addie continued. "Harry's going to help me out; he wants to take the job when he's graduated, and I'm quite happy with that."

There was a murmur of agreement among the teachers.

"Now I said I was going to meet with some of the Muggle-borns," Addie said. "I did meet with them, and I also met with some of their parents. Quite a few things came out of that meeting, which I'd like to speak to you about. Is it possible to inform Muggle-born students a year earlier?"

Minerva frowned. "Why?"

"Well, we usually talk to them the summer before they start," Addie explained. "But the parents will have spent the last year going through secondary schools and an awful lot of stress comes out of that, I understand. They put all of that effort in and then we turn up and tell them the children are going somewhere else."

"I hadn't thought of that," Pomona said. "It's such a given for us that there's one school; I didn't think that Muggles wouldn't have that."

Addie nodded. "Apparently most parents have a choice of three or four schools nearby, but some are better than others."

"We can certainly do that," Minerva said. "Obviously the coming year's intake are too late for that. But we can inform both this year's and next year's this summer, providing I have some help."

"We'll divide them up," Aurora said brightly. "I've always wanted to go on one of those."

"Next point, possibly related," Addie said. "We normally take them each to Diagon Alley separately - can we arrange some kind of group outing so they can meet each other before Hogwarts?"

"That would certainly save some time," Minerva said. "We should have spoken to the parents sooner. Anything else?"

"Well, this one is a bit harder," Addie warned. "And it might not be possible. Apparently Muggle schools have parents' evenings, which are a chance for the parents to meet their child's teachers and find out how they're doing. Additionally, the parents also told me that it was quite unnerving, not being able to see what their children were doing. I can understand that. I mean, if someone turned up and told me that these two were going to be taken to a school that I couldn't see, couldn't visit, and wouldn't have any idea what they were doing and how they were … Well, I don't think I'd agree to it."

"It's not very practical," Minerva said, frowning. "As I understand it, most Muggle schools have a couple of teachers per subject; we only have one."

"Well, I was thinking," Addie said slowly. "What if we had a parents' weekend, rather than a parents' evening? We could invite the parents here for a weekend, which would give you all more time to speak to people. Some parents won't need to speak to you; I think it would just be the Muggle parents who want a bit of reassurance. We could have a Quidditch match. The only issue would be the Muggle parents seeing the school."

"That sounds brilliant," Filius said fervently. "I'm sure we can produce some kind of one-time amulet to allow the parents to see through the wards."

"It will take an awful lot of planning," Minerva warned.

"I can do that," Addie said with a smile. "I just wanted to make sure you were all on board first. I'd also like to see if we can start creating a more cohesive environment. Competition between the houses is all very well, but we have this kind of 'us vs them' mentality at the moment, which isn't very healthy. So the more we can encourage the students to mix - ages, houses, blood status - the better. We don't want another Tom Riddle, and that needs to start here."

"Hear, hear," Filius said. "I'm sure we can all think of some group projects."

"Why not use the Great Hall?" Aurora asked. "When it's not meal-times, can we not swap out the house tables for smaller study tables?"

"Muggle schools have after school clubs," Pomona said. "I know we're all busy, but we could get together, maybe come up with a couple. It would only be a few hours once a week. That would get more of a mix."

"These all sound like great ideas," Addie said. "I'm conscious of the time and that at least two of you have holidays planned, so please come up with some solid plans and we'll discuss it nearer September. The only other thing to discuss is the Head Students."

"I would have thought that was obvious," Aurora said. "It has to be Harry and Hermione, doesn't it?"

"I thought you might say that," Addie said. "So I sounded them both out - without promising anything - and Hermione said she would still love to do it, as long as it wasn't because she was Lady Ravenclaw, but Harry said he didn't want it."

"I'm surprised," Snape said.

Addie sighed. "I'm not. That's why I sounded them both out. Harry said he wanted a year when he wasn't responsible for everything."

"I can see where he's coming from," Minerva said, frowning. "Although he would have been a good Head Boy."

"What about Draco?" Snape asked.

"I was thinking Neville actually," Minerva said. "Or Ron maybe?"

Addie shook his head. "Ron is still Quidditch Captain. I know some people can manage both - James certainly did - but I think Ron would be better suited to focussing on Quidditch. Especially since I know that's where he hopes his future is. Neville wouldn't be a bad option, but I agree with Severus actually - having a Gryffindor and a Slytherin pairing might help the relationship between the houses as well."

"In which case," Minerva said, "we may be in for an exciting year."

"I hope not," Addie said frankly. "I've had enough excitement for a lifetime."


	18. Seventeen Years Later

**September 1st 2015**

September dawned bright and sunny that year, although surprisingly cold. At King's Cross Station, a slim redhead stepped through the barrier onto Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, accompanied by two children, one blond boy clinging to a trolley bearing a trunk and an owl, and one redheaded girl clinging to her mother's hand.

"Mum … why can't I go?"

"Because you're not old enough," Ginny said, her lips twitching. "You're not 11 yet."

"But I'm 11 _in two days_," Marissa whined. "It's not fair!"

Ginny sighed. "Marissa, you can either stop whining and come and see Reg off, or I can take you to Nana Molly." She watched her daughter's lower lip wobble and counted down from five in her head, before crouching down in front of her. "Marissa, when I was your age, I was exactly the same, except I'd watched _six_ brothers go to Hogwarts without me. And I know it's unfair that you were born so close to the beginning of the school term. But think of it this way - would you rather be the oldest one in your year, or the youngest?"

The stubborn set of Marissa's shoulders slowly relaxed. "Oldest, I guess."

Ginny smiled. "That's my girl. What do you say we go and get ice cream after we've seen the train off?"

Marissa grinned and nodded, and Ginny straightened up to take her hand, her eyes darting around Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, looking for her son, who had darted off to find his friends. She found him talking excitedly with a dark-haired girl with deep brown eyes.

"Honestly," Hermione's voice floated over from nearby, "you two saw each other yesterday." She smiled as Ginny and Marissa came into view. "Managed to get here alright then?"

"Just about," Ginny said with a sigh. "Someone decided to unpack his trunk this morning."

"I wasn't sure I had my broom," Regulus said.

"When would you ever forget your broom?" Bethany Potter giggled. "It's attached to you, isn't it?"

"It's mornings like this," Ginny said, "that I wish Draco wasn't teaching."

"Maybe we should just all stay in one place," Hermione suggested. "Then we could team up in the morning."

"Yeah!" Bethany said. "Reg and I could share a room!"

"No," Hermione and Ginny both said together.

"You and Reg can share a room when I want the house destroyed," Hermione added.

Bethany Lily Potter and Regulus Draco Malfoy were only a few months apart - unfortunately those few months made them a year apart at Hogwarts. The two were best friends, so it always surprised people when they learned they were in different houses.

It surprised everyone even more when they learned which houses they were.

When Bethany was Sorted into Slytherin, everyone was surprised - except Potions teacher Professor Malfoy, who had gleefully reminded DADA teacher Professor Potter of a very old bet.

A year later, when Regulus was Sorted into Gryffindor, Professor Potter quietly collected his ten galleons back.

Bethany's cloak wriggled, and a green head poked its way out, tongue flickering out to taste the air.

"Bethany …" Hermione sighed. "Where's the rest of her?"

"Wrapped around my waist," Bethany answered, stroking Esmerelda's head. "Aunt Jen's here!"

"Hey trouble," Jen greeted with a smile, glancing over her shoulder to check on her own children - only to find herself one short. "Oh for … David, where's your sister?"

David John Lupin shrugged. "Don't know. She was behind me a second ago. Hi Beth - ready for Slytherin to lose the cup this year?"

Bethany laughed. "In your dreams."

"I'm sure she's just catching up," Hermione said.

"Probably," Jen said, smiling down at the young boy at Hermione's side. "Are you looking forward to Hogwarts, Justin?"

Justin nodded, shaking a bit with excitement and nerves. "How do they Sort us?"

"Can't tell you that," Jen said. "It's a secret." She lowered her voice. "But do you really think your dad would let anything bad happen?"

"No," Justin answered. "But what if I'm in Slytherin?"

"Don't worry about that," Bethany said. "I'm going to pretend we don't know each other whatever house you end up in."

"Bethany!" Hermione chided, but his sister's teasing seemed to evaporate the last of her son's nerves, since he was now laughing with her.

"Aunt Jen," twin voices called.

"Over here," Jen called. "And thank you for telling me you were going to stop," she added to her two nieces, "unlike your cousin."

With Sirius and Addie both at the castle already, Jen had brought Marlena and Rosalind to the station, as she had every year since they started Hogwarts.

"Yeah, about Serenity …" Marlena began with a wicked grin. "We found her for you."

Jen sighed. "What did you do to her?"

"We didn't do anything," Rosalind answered. "But she's with Vikki."

"That's not surprising," Jen said. Victoire Weasley had been born exactly a year after the war ended, and she and Serenity, although not close when they were young, had become best friends at Hogwarts, despite being a year apart.

"Well, I'm quite close with my friends," Marlena said. "But I don't greet them like that." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder to where the crowds had parted a little.

Sure enough, the embrace the two girls were locked in was certainly not platonic.

"I asked what they were doing …" Rosalind began.

"You interrupted them?" Jen asked. "You are so like your father." She whistled sharply, getting her daughter's attention. "Oi! Hands where I can see them."

Serenity broke away, her face turning as red as her girlfriend's hair. "Mum!"

"If you're not going to tell me things, I am going to embarrass you," Jen said. "Where are the rest of the Weasleys?"

"Which ones?" Ginny asked dryly, just as a wave of redheads came spilling through the crowd towards them.

"Brace yourself!" Regulus yelped. "Women, children and me first!"

"Some Gryffindor you are," Bethany sniggered, as he tried to tug her towards the train.

"Uncle Ron!" Justin called.

His godfather ruffled his hair. "Hey buddy. Excited?"

Justin nodded, his eyes wide. "Yeah, but I'm going to miss the Quidditch games. Are there any today?"

Ron smiled. As the Quidditch correspondent for the Quibbler, he had been happy to take any of his nieces and nephews with him to the games. "Not today, kiddo. You and Rolf can still come with me in the summer."

His son, with his father's red hair and his mother's dreamy expression, was practically bouncing at his side. "You said Oliver Wood was going to be here today."

"Well, his daughter's in your year," Ron said, peering over the tops of people's heads. "I think that's them behind the huge crowd over there."

Oliver had married Katie Bell a few months after the final battle - they both played professionally, for two opposing teams with a very strong rivalry.

The media loved them for it.

"How come you're not getting swamped?" Hermione asked Ginny.

Ginny shrugged. "I don't really play for the Harpies anymore - I'm old news." She felt a tugging on her shirt and smiled, bending down to lift up one of her youngest nieces, Lucy, into her arms. "Hello, munchkin. Where's Mummy and Daddy?"

"We're here," an exhausted Penelope said appearing at her side. "Lucy, please do not run off when there are a lot of people, even if you can see someone you know."

Lucy's older sister, Molly, was already in her Hogwarts robes, ready to start second year. "Hi Aunt Ginny."

"Hi sweetheart," Ginny said, running an eye over the group that had amassed around them.

Bill and Fleur had arrived with Dominique and were interrogating Vikki - apparently it wasn't just Jen who had been in the dark.

Fred and George were manning the shop, so Angelina and Alicia had arrived together with their collective brood, who may as well have all been siblings rather than cousins.

Charlie and Katherine still worked at the dragon preserve in Romania, so their children went to Durmstrang as the closest Wizarding school.

And she had spoken to both Penelope and Ron, so that ticked off all of her siblings.

She could see Amelia Diggory and Genevieve Longbottom chatting to Bethany, so their parents must have been around somewhere - she caught Daphne's eye across the crowd and waved.

So they were just missing …

"Grandpa!" Justin called, waving madly.

Hermione caught his hand. "Good Merlin, child, you'll take an eye out."

James laughed. "Hey, Justin - ready for your first year?"

Justin nodded frantically. "It feels like we're waiting forever."

"Yeah, the first trip feels like that," James said, hugging Bethany. "And how's our snake-charmer?"

Unexpectedly, James had been the first to recover when they realised that Bethany had somehow inherited Parseltongue from her father (something they had all assumed to be Horcrux-related), reassuring his granddaughter that it just meant that she took after her great-grandmother, Emily Potter.

"Good," Bethany said, pulling away. "Hi Auntie Annie!"

Annabelle Potter, a year _below_ Bethany, rolled her eyes. "Please stop calling me that; it's really, really weird."

The train whistle blew, and Hermione sighed, checking her watch. "Time to get on the train then." She hugged both of her children. "I'll see you in October for the parents' weekend. Bethany, please keep an eye on Justin; you don't need to follow him everywhere."

"Okay, Mum," Bethany said, hosting Esmerelda more securely on to her hip.

"And find somewhere more appropriate for her before the opening feast," Hermione added. "You'll give people a heart attack."

"Yes Mum!"

The children piled on to the train, and Hermione watched as the doors slammed and the train slowly started to pull away.

Her hand felt empty, used to Justin staying by her side while they waved Bethany off.

Beside Ginny, Marissa sighed. "Can we get ice cream now?"

Ginny smiled. "Yes, we can."

"And can I go flying later?" Marissa asked.

"Of course," her mother said.

"And can I stay up late tonight?"

Ginny laughed. "Don't push it. Are you coming with us, Hermione?"

"I'd love to," Hermione said. "But I've got to go to work. Lavender's asked for a Healer to come in; she's got a new client coming in today, handles the full moon particularly badly, and she wants a friendly face."

As Ginny led her daughter out of the station, and their friends and family dispersed, Hermione stayed where she was, watching the train until it was out of sight.

In a few hours time, she would get a mirror call from her husband to tell her which house their son had been Sorted in to. He would embark on seven magical years, much calmer than her own.

The scar on Harry's forehead had faded almost to obscurity, and it had not pained him in seventeen years.

All was well.

* * *

**And that, folks, is all she wrote. I genuinely cannot believe it's over. However, this is not the last of it! My next job (in this fandom at least) is to finish Mischief Managed. And then, I might compile a story of 'missing scenes' from Uncovering the Truth, Defying the Enemy, The Last Stand and Aftermath, as well as the gap between the last chapter and this one. Let me know if there's anything particular you'd like to see, and I'll add it to the list.**

**I can't promise I'll write it, but I'll add it to the list.**

**And finally, here's a list of the kids and the nuggets of info that didn't make it into this chapter:**

**Remus & Jen - Serenity Hope Lupin (seventh year) and David John Lupin (fourth year)**

**Sirius & Addie - Marlena Hermione Black (sixth year) and Rosalind Helena Black (sixth year) - they were born a few weeks early on Halloween. Sirius panicked because he was convinced the day was cursed.**

**James & Lily - Annabelle Amelia Potter (third year)**

**Harry & Hermione - Bethany Lily Potter (fourth year) and Justin James Potter (first year)**

**Ginny & Draco - Regulus Draco Malfoy (third year) and Marissa Ginevra Malfoy (starts next September)**

**Ron & Luna - Rolf Arthur Weasley (first year) - it was the weirdest wedding anyone had ever been to**

**Cedric & Susan - Amelia Tabitha Diggory (fourth year)**

**Neville & Daphne - Genevieve Augusta Longbottom (third year)**

**Bill & Fleur - Victoire Appoline Weasley (sixth year) and Dominique Molly Weasley (second year)**

**Charlie & Katherine - Ruth Margaret Weasley and Michael Septimus Weasley (Durmstrang)**

**Percy & Penelope - Molly Penelope Weasley (second year) and Lucy Ginevra Weasley (five years old)**

**Fred & Angelina - Roxanne Alicia Weasley (fifth year) and Gideon James Weasley (third year)**

**George & Alicia - Isla Angelina Weasley (fourth year) and Fabian Sirius Weasley (second year)**

**The twins rebuilt the shop with the help of the Marauders, and now have several locations globally, as well as in the UK**

**Molly recovered in St Mungo's and now dotes on all of her grandchildren, biological or not**

**Lavender works at the Ministry for the newly-formed werewolf liaison office, where she ensures that all werewolves have access to whatever medical attention or support they require - as a result incidents of people being turned have dwindled significantly**


End file.
